Chapter 24 - Restoration.

Restoration: The process of repairing something so as to return it to its original condition.

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Brian's POV

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It was a bit of a struggle getting Justin out of the loft this morning - the randy little twink - but I eventually convinced him that he needed to wait till tonight if he wanted my full attention. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy my wake up call this morning. I could probably get used to that in lieu of my regular alarm clock pretty easily. But I've got a lot planned for today so he's going to have to wait just a little longer.

The first thing on the agenda is a meeting with the Daddies' Board Shop team to get our newly signed client's campaign into production. Justin gets a big round of applause from the rest of the team for handling his first big account so smoothly. It's great to watch him flush with pride at the kudos he gets from the others. But, the client was adamant about some fairly tight production deadlines, which means I can't sit on my laurels with this one. We need to get right on this first thing. So, the first three hours of my day are swamped, but we get the project well on its way and then I let myself relax enough to breathe.

Ted is my next appointment. He'd pulled me aside briefly last night to tell me he'd made some big progress on another project I'd given him early last week. I'd told him to come see me as soon as we got Daddies' on its way.

"Show me what you've got, Theodore," I begin.

"Well, I got a good start on all the paperwork to get replacement ID for Justin, but it's going to take some time. I had no idea it was such a hassle for someone who'd lost all their ID to get it replaced. That was a good idea to check with his old school, though. I was able to get his social security number from them - by the way, their security system is for shit and I was amazed at how easy it was to get records from them, which is good for us but, generally speaking its a travesty.

Anyway, they supplied me with copies of some records we can use as backup documentation to get him a reissued birth certificate and then we can use that to get started getting everything else - a social security card, state ID or drivers license, eventually even a passport. I also spoke with Mitchell at our bank about the special circumstances and he confirmed that, as long as he has a verifiable social security number, the bank will waive their other requirements for opening a new checking account for him.

"Fabulous. Great job, Theodore. Remind me next time I try to fire you how much more than a mere accountant you've become," I tease, but with real approval underlying the joking.

"Thanks, Bri. As to the other stuff you wanted me to find out for you, well, like I said, we're lucky that fancy private school was pretty lax about privacy issues. The school secretary was so ridiculously talkative I could have probably got her to give me her social security number. She gave me all the old contact info for Justin's residence and his father's business. I verified both addresses with the county tax assessor's office and personally confirmed the phone numbers. Everything's all still good," Ted says and hands me the page long printout with Craig Taylor's contact information. "The cell phone number the school had for his mother wasn't good anymore, though."

"Excellent. I'm thinking of paying Craig Taylor a little visit in the not too distant future and this will definitely make things easier for me," I respond as I look over the info Ted's prepared for me.

"If you need any backup, Em and I would love to join you on that little outing. While I'm not generally the vindictive type, after seeing what that shit has done to Justin, I'd love to give Taylor a huge fucking piece of my mind. And, Emmett told me he wants a piece of the guy too. In fact, if you'd like, I could probably put together a respectable lynch mob for this creep."

"We'll see. I haven't finalized my plans yet, but I may just take you up on that offer. Now, what about the girl?"

"Piece of cake. Lynn, that's the school secretary, knew exactly who I was talking about. Her name is Daphne Chanders. She was the class valedictorian as a matter of fact, which meant that Lynn knew practically everything about her including the fact that she's still here in town. She's a student at Carnegie Mellon. They're much stricter about giving out any personal information on their students, but I was able to verify that she's a current student there and I got her campus email address. Here. Sorry, but that's the only contact info I could get for her. Think that will be enough?" Ted asks.

"It's more than we had before. Thanks, Ted. Really. This is going to make a huge difference, I hope."

"No problem. I like Justin. I hope it helps," Ted adds as he gathers his papers together, like the good accountant he is, and heads back to his office.

Now to put all my information to work! First, I send off a quick email to Carnegie Mellon. Then, I call the bank and set up an appointment for 1:30. And finally, I pull out the crumpled Missing Person flyer and make another, very important call.

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Justin's POV

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Okay, I have a shitload of stuff I have to do for this new account. By the time I'm through with all the different meetings this morning, I have a ToDo list almost a full page long. I LOVE it.

I've never had a real job before, let alone one where I get to draw and paint and work with amazing graphics programs on the computer. I not only love the actual work, though, I also like the feeling of having a plan. A list of things I have to work on. It's like having a future - one that's tangible, that you can see and hold in your hand. It's hard to explain, but having a ToDo list, for me, is like having a written guarantee of my value. I know I matter because I have all these things that I am responsible for seeing to. Me - no one else - just me.

I know, it's pretty stupid. But, I'm starting to really enjoy this 'work' thing. I hope that Brian wasn't joking about me keeping the job after today. I think I want to keep this job. I'm kinda looking forward to some of the stuff on my list - some of these could be sorta fun. If I do really well at this, hopefully Brian won't regret giving me a chance and he'll let me stay. I really hope so.

I'm still working on item #1 on my list when Brian comes in and asks me to join him for lunch. He takes me to this little French bakery and I tell him what I want from the menu before our waitress comes. I'm getting so good at the restaurant thing. I think that Brian's just a little proud at how well I'm doing too because that smile he gives me is huge.

When we're almost done with lunch - I'm just finishing a tarte au creme freshe which Brian said I would love for dessert - he pulls a folded paper out of his jacket pocket and sets it down in front of me. It's the paycheck from last Friday. No matter how much better I'm feeling today, or the fact that I've decided I want to keep the job, the paycheck still freaks me out a little. It's just so much money. Plus it's a check and I don't know what to do with a check.

"Ready to deal with this, Sunshine?" Brian asks.

I revert back to my stupid, nonverbal self and just shrug and sigh.

"I had Ted call the bank. You can use this to open up a checking account at the bank. They understand that you have some rather special circumstances and the only ID they will need to see is your old school picture ID. You still have that right?"

I nod. I can't believe he's serious, though. The concept of me having a bank account of my own is mind blowing. Fuck - a job and a bank account. Me?

"What do you think, Justin? I'll go with you. You can deposit the paycheck and take out just enough cash so that you have some spending money on you. You don't have to carry around lots of money. The account will be in your name only so no one can touch your money other than you. It's a lot safer than hiding your money in your shoes, Sunshine," Brian teases.

I close my eyes so I can think. I can't look at Brian. I can't look at that fucking check. But with my eyes closed I can actually think. And, when I can think about it like that, well . . . It doesn't seem so bad.

"Okay," I tell him and then open my eyes and smile at him. "Okay, let's do it."

"Let's!" Brian says, grabbing me by the hand and taking me and my very first paycheck out the door on our way to a fucking bank.

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Brian's POV

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Finally, the paycheck is in the bank and Justin is the very proud owner of a brand new checking account. It all went relatively smoothly, too, thanks to Ted's assistance. So, that's one more hurdle Justin and I have passed successfully. Maybe I don't suck at this therapy thing after all.

Now, I just have one more difficult task to get through today. Then I can concentrate on the more pleasurable pursuits I have planned for tonight. This one might not go as smoothly, though.

I drop Justin off back at work - he's still clutching the checkbook full of temporary checks like its made of solid gold and it's so fucking adorable. But, there's no time for any of that overly sentimental lesbionic crap. I'm already running late for my next appointment.

Luckily I set this meeting up at the Liberty Diner and told Deb to keep an eye on my guest. I had suspected I might I get delayed at the bank. Plus, this tactic has the added benefit of giving my spy some time to scope out the target just in case I need either back up or a second opinion later.

As soon as I walk in, Deb gives me a nod to the back booth. The middle aged, well dressed woman sitting there has her back to the door so she doesn't see me come in, not that she'd know me if she did see me. But it does give me a couple of seconds to study her without her knowledge. And, the little I see doesn't seem too bad, but we'll see. I look over at Deb before I proceed, but she just shrugs noncommittally. So much for my spy.

"Mrs. Taylor?" I say as I reach the booth, offering my hand in greeting. "I'm Brian Kinney. Thank you for meeting with me."

"Thank you, Mr. Kinney, for calling," she says, shaking my hand and half rising from the seat before I wave her back. "You're the first lead I've had about my son, so I'm more than happy to meet with you anywhere that's convenient for you. Please, tell me what you know about Justin. Is he okay? How do I find him?"

"Justin is fine, Mrs. Taylor. But, as I told you on the phone, I'm a friend of your son's, and before I tell you anything more, I'm interested in hearing why you're trying to find him after all this time. It seems a little odd, wouldn't you agree?"

"I suppose it might to someone who didn't know what our family was like," she starts off, but then hesitates before telling me anything further. "But, first, Mr. Kinney, how do I know you're telling the truth about even knowing my son? I don't mean to be rude, but I'd rather not be giving out a lot of very personal information to a complete stranger until I have some reason to believe it's likely to get me closer to my son."

I take out my phone and open the camera app, then bring up the set of pictures I took the other day at the zoo. There's a great one of Justin holding up Gus in front of the polar bear exhibit so they can compare their joint height to a cut out display showing how tall an average polar bear is when it stands on its hind legs - even the two of them combined are shorter than the bear cut out behind them. But it's an excellent image of Justin and shows both boys happy and smiling. I hand the phone to her so she can see the picture more closely.

"Oh, Justin," Jennifer says as she lays her hand on her chest and her face crumples, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "God, he looks good. I've been so worried. I thought . . . Well, I suspected maybe that he might be . . . I didn't even know if Justin was alive until now. Thank you. You have no idea how relieved I am just seeing this photo. Thank you."

She hasn't returned my phone yet. She's still staring at the picture of her long lost son. She looks genuinely pleased and relieved to see that Justin is alive and seemingly well. I glance over at Deb who's hovering close by. Debbie nods at me, indicating that she thinks I should continue.

"Do you mind my asking, when was this taken?" Jennifer finally looks away from the picture.

"Saturday. I had my son, Gus, for the weekend and we took him to the zoo," I offer.

"Justin never got to go to the zoo as a child," she reminisces. "My husband wouldn't let him go with his class. Justin was so upset about missing that trip. He'd been looking forward to it for weeks. And he was so embarrassed that he was the only child that wasn't given permission. He even had to spend the whole day in the front office with the school secretary while his class was gone."

"He told me about that and that he'd never been to the zoo before the other day." She looked and sounded sincere to me, but, I still wanted that explanation. "So, tell me, Mrs. Taylor, why didn't you try to find him before this."

"I know this sounds ridiculous, but I didn't know he was missing until about six moths ago," my disbelieving look stops her briefly, but she continues on with her explanation. "You see, my husband was a very controlling man. He took Justin with him one day when he left for work and when he came home, he said that Justin had done something 'unspeakable' - his term, not mine - and that Craig had decided then and there to send our son off to live with Craig's brother, Bill, in Philadelphia. He said it was to get Justin away from the bad influences he'd met with here."

“I tried to protest and later to contact Justin, but my husband stopped me. I won't go into the things he did to me, Mr. Kinney - suffice it to say that Craig Taylor could be very . . . coercive . . . when he wanted to be.

"But I truly thought that Justin was with his Aunt and Uncle. If I'd known what Craig really did, I would have left him right then and gone after Justin immediately. I had no idea that bastard had basically thrown Justin out on the streets with nothing but the clothes on his back. I mean, who would do that to their own child? I always thought that Craig was harsh with Justin, but he said everything he did was done out of love - to teach Justin a lesson or to protect him. Yes, I was naive and completed cowed by Craig, but I had no idea he could do anything so heartless."

"It wasn't until I got a call from Bill about six months ago that I found out the truth. Craig wasn't home when Bill called - he'd told me he was going away on a business trip to check out some new venders, which was also a lie. So I thought, great, finally an opportunity to talk to Justin when his dad wasn't around to stop us. But when I asked Bill how Justin was and if I could talk to him, Bill had no idea what I was talking about. He told me Justin had never been there."

"After I tracked Craig down at his mistress' house, I confronted him and he finally told me the truth about what happened. Well, at least he told me that he'd thrown Justin out on the streets - I have no idea if the rest of what he told me was the truth or not because I've found out since then that virtually everything he ever said to me was a lie."

"At first I tried to find Justin on my own. I contacted his old school friends and other relatives, but it seemed he'd just disappeared. I finally filed the police report when I realized I wasn't getting anywhere on my own."

"That's why I didn't start looking for Justin until recently. I admit that I was stupid and gullible and weak. I also admit that I'm almost as much to blame as Craig for everything that happened to Justin because I might have stopped it all and I didn't. But I want to try to make it up to him now. So, please Mr. Kinney, you have to tell me where my son is."

Debbie, who wasn't even pretending not to eavesdrop anymore, was standing right behind Jennifer when she finish talking. I waved Deb over to my side and pulled her down so she was sitting next to me. This woman was the closest thing I had to a mother and fuck knew I needed some motherly advice right now.

"What do you say, Deb?" I ask.

Debbie scrutinized Jennifer Taylor for a good five minutes while we both waited for the final verdict. Finally, Debbie looks to me and answers. "Well, she seems legit to me, but I'm not really the one who matters here. I say you tell Sunshine what she said and let him make up his own fucking mind."

"Thanks, Mom," I say and give Deb a quick kiss on her cheek before shooing her back out of the booth. "I have one more question first, Mrs. Taylor. How does Craig figure into this?"

"He doesn't," she responds instantly. "I filed for divorce from the bastard two weeks after I got the call from Bill. I haven't talked to Craig since the divorce was finalized and I hope I never have to see him ever again."

"Good enough. I'll let Justin know what you said. It's up to him if he wants to call you," I state as I get up and leave without another word, my anger and pity for this weak woman choking all the possible words out of me.