JUSTIN 

Brian and I wondered if things had changed too much, Chris is backing off, Michael invited everyone but Deb to David's party, and Michael, instead of spending all his time worrying about David paying for everything, just went along for the ride. He even tried to tell me that he was just taking a page from my book, letting someone else pay for everything. I would have said something about the difference between my partner supporting me and him being a trophy wife, but Brian told me Michael wouldn’t get it, and not to waste my breath on trying to get through to the sludge in Michael’s head. I hoped enough had changed that we wouldn’t be stuck listening to Michael massacre the French language.

Why couldn’t this have changed too? Instead, all of us wanted to go to sleep along with Ted. Brian was half asleep anyway because he and Ted have been working long days at Kinnetik and hadn’t had a lot of sleep lately. So instead of making out to get through this, I had Brian drooling on my shoulder. Michael seems to think only he and David have ever gone to Paris, and that every one of us needed to sit through the ‘David and Mikey take pictures in front of anything they walked by’, with Michael trying to sound like he was suddenly French. I was more than ready for us to get the hell out of dodge, but Michael wanted us to stay after Deb left. Michael waited until Deb and Vic were out the door, to tell the guys they were invited to the fundraiser. It must have pissed him off, but he couldn't disclude me without looking like an ass.

“David and I wanted to invite you guys to his fundraiser.” Michael tells us.

“I’m working it, so I was already going to be here.” Emmett tells him. Emmett told me he would have avoided it if he could.

“I was talking to Brian and Ted.” He tells Emmett.

“Of course if any of you want to bring someone you can.” David adds. I wanted to smirk, but I contained myself.

“I guess Justin and I can bring Deb with us.” Brian answers, daring Michael to contradict him about me automatically being included with him.

“It’s not really something Ma would be comfortable with.” Michael hurries to add.

“It’s a party, Michael. Deb loves to party, and she would be thrilled to tell everyone she is meeting a senator.” Emmett tells him. 

“I just don’t think she would have fun, so can you not tell her.” Michael tells us. 

“Michael, I told you, it’s fine if you want your family here.” David tells him.

“You do realize Vic is catering this, so Deb already knows about it.” Emmett tells him.

We leave before Michael can be a bigger jackass. We all decide to go to Woody’s, because Emmett looked like he was about to explode.

“Is he really going to not invite his mother?” He asks us.

“Last time he didn’t invite any of us.” Brian tells Emmett.

“Did he have the party, without us finding out?” Emmett asks us.

“No, it’s going to be in the paper, we are all reading it when Michael shows up and lets us know we aren’t invited.” Brian tells him.

“We stayed friends with him? What the hell was wrong with us?” Emmett asks nobody in particular.

“Yes, you all stay friends with him, because you guys love to be shit on by Michael. If it makes you feel better, we all go dressed up, you as Jackie O, me like a twink, and what the hell were you wearing again?” I ask Brian. 

“Some disco reject shirt and skin tight pants, I had to throw away the pants, the zipper broke.” He tells me.

“That’s what you get for letting that waiter go down on you.” I tell him.

“We can get back to that, and I want details. What happened when we went?” Emmett asks us.

“I wanted Michael to know he couldn’t treat Deb like that, so we turned the party into a night at Babylon. Justin wore an outfit that had some stuffed shirt guy practically drooling on his ass. You dressed in drag, which was new for you, and end up spilling shit on your outfit. Ted was into the whole bondage thing, so he wore leather, it was the first time Ted was assertive. Then Michael tries to get Deb to stop being Deb, and instead of pulling her out of the room and telling her in private to tone it down, he tells her loud enough for everyone to hear, that she was embarrassing him. We all leave with Deb.” Brian tells them.

“That was what I didn’t get, the senator really enjoyed talking to Deb, she told me that.” I tell them.

“I hope she made him beg for forgiveness.” Ted tells us.

“Nope, he shows up and Ma lets him off the hook. We are all expected to do the same, and we do.” Brian tells them.

“No one told him he was an asshole?” Emmett asks.

“Are you sensing a theme here, Michael does something shitty and you all rally around him. Is it any wonder he never grows up?” I tell them.

“What do you plan to do this time?” Emmett asks us. Let the fucker rot with David, had my vote. 

“This time, Justin isn’t going to run after Deb and try to calm her down. We are going to come and act like adults, because no matter what, Michael is going to have a problem with it. He needs to see that we aren’t going to let him think just saying he is sorry is enough.” Brian tells them.

DEBBIE

All my boys are hungry this evening, I watch Brian staring at Justin’s plate in amazement. I wanted to see if we could go to Michael’s party together. Michael came in and started talking to his friends, none of them had been hanging around each other in weeks. I’m glad they're finally getting along again, but I know Michael has been a pain in the ass lately. 

“So are you coming?” I hear Michael ask Brian.

“Let’s see, I can stay home and Justin could entertain me or go and stand around pretending I just love cheese and wine parties. Gosh what should I do?” Brian tells Michael. I don’t think my son caught the sarcasm. 

“You should let Justin go hang out with other kids and come meet a senator.” He tells Brian.

“I rather hang out with the kids.” Brian tells him. 

I guess I’ll have to get Brian to go. Michael needs to get over Justin being with Brian.

“What are you wearing to the party, I was going to look for a new dress.” I tell them, as I walk up behind Michael.

“You don’t need to do that Ma.” Michael tells me.

“I’m not going to wear some old thing, you're entertaining a senator.” I tell him.

“Ma, you’ll probably have to work.” He tells me.

“I’ll get the night off. I was planning it when Vic told me about it.” Michael worries too much.

“Look it’s not really something you would be interested in.” He tells me.

“It’s a party, you drink, eat and have fun. I think I can do that.” I tell him.

“The people are going to be boring and stuffy.” Michael tells me. Why is he acting like he doesn’t want me there?

“I’m sure they won’t mind talking about something other than the national crisis Michael. I talk to people all day, I think I can manage one night.” I tell him.

“Ma, look it just isn’t your thing, so drop it. Can I just get the turkey meatloaf to go?” He tells me.

I watch him head to the bathroom and wonder when I was no longer good enough for my son. I don’t understand why he’s acting like he’s better than us. I didn’t know what to say because I’ve never had Michael treat me like he would rather have had Joan as a mother.

“Deb, get the dress, we’re all going.” Brian tells me.

MICHAEL

David and I were taking the senator around the room. I had hoped Brian would show up, but when I asked Emmett about it, he said Brian wasn’t happy with the way I treated my mother. I just don’t need her telling people stupid things. These people are important to David.

David and I were talking about how different my life has been with him, when I see my mother, Justin, Brian and Ted standing there. Ma was still dressed too gay pride for a formal party. Why can’t I have a normal mother? 

“Hey son, we made it.” Ma tells me.

“I brought our contribution.” Brian hands David a check.

I was trying to think of a way to make my friends understand this isn’t a crappy get together, important people are here. My mother isn’t used to these things and is likely to say or do something people are going to laugh at her for. I was only thinking of her, when I told her not to come. 

“Michael just let them enjoy themselves. Don’t make a scene in front of our guest.” David tells me.

“It's not me, I just know what they can act like.” I tell him. David just acts like I'm being an asshole. Well he better not blame me for them.

Brian takes Ma and Justin and walks off, without saying anything to me. I have to watch as Justin walks around with Brian, acting like they were a couple. Does Brian not get how ridiculous he looks with Justin? Ted was standing around talking to some of David’s friends, which shows he at least knows how to act and Ma just had to talk to the senator. It seemed every time I saw her, she was with the senator. The poor woman was probably trying to get away, but Ma wouldn’t let her. Why couldn’t Ma just stand in the corner and stay quiet if she had to come?

I knew I was going to have to do something with Ma, she was monopolizing the senator from the moment she got here. I wanted to yank her out of here, but I had to consider how that would look. I excused myself from David and walked over to her. Hopefully I can get her to understand not everyone wants to talk to her.

“Ma, can you not monopolize the senator's time.” I tell her. 

The senator tells us she was used to boring parties but was having a great time talking to Ma. I ask Ma if I could talk to her alone. We walked by a waiter and Ma just had to show someone how to hold a tray. What is she thinking?

“What is wrong with you? This is supposed to be a party for the senator, not you spending all your time making her listen to you.” I tell her.

“What, I was just talking to Diane, did you know she use be a waitress, she did it to take care of her family.” She tells me. Like that makes them equals.

“She was being polite.” Doesn’t Ma realize the senator wouldn’t have told her to go away.

“Polite?” She asks me.

“Do you really think she wanted to spend the entire evening talking to you.” Why doesn’t she get it?

“It’s not as if I nailed her to the floor.” She tells me.

“If I let you stay, leave her alone. The senator has important people she needs to talk to, and can't, because you won’t leave her alone. I don't need you embarrassing me by talking about how you never made it past being a waitress. And Brian just had to bring Justin, I’m sure people are wondering why a grown man is hanging around a kid. Ted is most likely boring people to death, at least Emmett and Vic understand why they are here.” I tell her.

“What are any of them doing but mingling. I don’t see anyone complaining. What do you mean ‘if you let me stay’? I’m your mother. Diane isn’t complaining, she told you she was having a good time, unlike the usual parties you stuffed shirts throw.” She tells me.

“SHE WOULDN'T COMPLAIN, CAUSE LIKE I SAID SHE IS BEING POLITE. SOMETHING YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. MOST PEOPLE REALIZE THAT NO ONE WANTS TO LISTEN TO THEM GO ON AND ON ABOUT THEMSELVES, BUT YOU THINK SOMEONE AS IMPORTANT AS A SENATOR WANTS TO LISTEN TO YOUR INANE CHATTER.“  I yell at her.

When I was finished, everyone was looking at me. Why did the music have to stop?

“I think the only one who is embarrassing themselves is you.” Ma tells me.

Brian, Justin and Ted tell David they aren’t going to stay, and take Ma with them. Brian stopped and looked at me, but didn’t say anything. Ted and Justin shook their heads but also left without a word. I turned to see that David didn’t look happy with me either. What did I do but try to allow the senator to escape my mother?

“Wow, if I didn't have to work this party, I would have gone too. Deb is an embarrassment?” Emmett asks me. He turns and walks off, and I spend the rest of the night getting the silent treatment. 

BRIAN

It was hard to watch Michael treat Deb like crap, but I know that if any of us do anything to soothe her anger, Michael will continue to be forgiven. Ted and I put Deb in the car and neither of us say anything to excuse Michael’s behavior. Deb is sitting there trying to somehow make this her fault.

“Do you think I should have stayed away? I mean, I don’t think I was doing anything to embarrass Michael, was I?” She asks us.

The thing is, we set out to embarrass Michael the first time, so I can see why he was pissed with us the last time. This time we all came properly dressed and on our best behavior. I made sure that nothing Deb did should cause Michael to act like a shit to her. I wanted to see if we could get different results this time. I should have known it wouldn’t matter, because he didn’t want her there, so he was going to find a reason that she was wrong to come. In other words, we didn’t do Mikey’s bidding so there was no way to be right in his eyes.

“What did you do Deb? You are dressed appropriately and you made conversation, that’s what all these parties are like. It seemed to us the senator was monopolizing your time, not the other way around. She seemed to really like talking to you. She is most likely used to the same boring conversations about politics, in which she has to guard what she says to people. With you she could just talk, and know nothing was going to be taken wrong.  Don’t let Michael make you think you did something wrong.” Justin tells her.

“I just don’t understand him, why is he acting like this?” She asks us.

“The same reason he acts like this any other time. We didn’t do what he told us.” I tell her.

JUSTIN

We didn’t have the senator at Deb’s house because I wasn’t trying to get St James to accept a club. We did all have pasta at Deb’s, and all of us were just hanging out. Michael didn’t call and try to talk to his mother, but called Kinnetik, thinking that Brian would tell her she had no right to be mad at him. Cynthia was told to hang up if Michael called and don’t bother with the messages. Brian wasn’t in the mood to deal with his ‘best friend’. Brian was working longer nights and with the exception of helping with Gus and coming home to sleep, he was using work to shield his emotions. I knew he was trying to avoid what we knew was coming. Jack was about to die. I let him do what he needed, because he wasn’t pulling away from me, just not dealing with the impending death of his father well. 

I was going to grab Deb another drink, when Michael walked into the house. He walked right in front of Deb and stood there waiting, for what I don’t know. I think he was so used to everyone forgiving him, that when no one said anything, he was puzzled. 

“Ma, aren’t you going to say anything?” He asked her.

“Did you hear someone talking?” She asks us.

“Ma, come on, you don’t have any reason to be mad.” Michael tells her. 

“Vic, would you please tell my son that he should leave before I talk to anyone, because I might say something to embarrass him.” She tell Vic.

“Ma, I didn’t mean…” Michael stopped when Deb turned and put her finger in his face.. 

“You never mean anything. You think you can come over to my house and all is forgiven. Maybe that's why you think acting like an asshole is okay. That since we are family, we’re going to let you get away with treating us like we're beneath you. I don’t understand why you're even here, as if you think standing there gracing us with your presence is a get out of jail free card. Why don't you go back to your new family, until you can stop acting like an embarrassment to us.” She tells him. 

“What did I do? You showed up when I asked you not to.” He tells her. 

It’s hard to watch Michael dig a deeper hole, but I'm hoping she sticks to her guns. Brian and I tried to not give Michael a reason to be a dick this time. It’s strange that even with different scenarios we get the same results from Michael. We didn’t walk in there to cause trouble, instead we showed up and did what was expected of us. Brian was right, Michael needed to find a way to show he didn’t like Deb or me being there.

“When you're right, you're right. I did show up, but I was invited by my adopted sons, who don't think I was doing anything wrong.” She tells him. 

There was a knock on the door, why is Marilyn here? Vic lets her in and she joins in, but stays silent. Michael and Deb were too busy to notice her.

“It’s because they're too busy doing stupid things, and didn’t care that they brought uninvited people to my party.” He tells her. Emmett owes me a twenty, I told him Michael would somehow involve me in this. 

“What were Brian or Ted doing that was stupid?” Vic cuts in.

“Hello, it’s standing next to Brian.” He points at me. I had to grab Brian’s arm to stop him.

“How is Justin a problem for you Michael? Aren’t you with David?” Vic asks him.

“Brian is too busy getting up Justin’s ass to see that people think he’s a child molester. What is so fucking special about that blond boy ass, that Brian is giving up half his life to it. You better hope Justin dies before he takes half your shit, because he is… “ 

And you know, not one of us stopped Brian from not just punching Michael, but picking him up and punching him again. Emmett and Ted told me to get Brian and picked up Michael and threw him out the front door. Deb didn’t even go to check on Michael, instead got a towel and ice to wrap around Brian’s hand and make sure he was okay.

“So why are you here, nothing is really going on?” Emmett ask Marilyn.

“I just wanted to see the fucker get hit.” She tells him, smiling as she flounces out the door.