BRIAN 

I let the kids play in the backyard while Justin was out. Gus seemed to be in a better mood after talking to Justin. I wanted to know what was bothering Gus, but I also wanted to let him tell me. Gus came and sat on my lap while Jewel and Aidan played in the sandbox.

“I like it here.” He tells me. 

“I’m happy to hear you say that, you seemed like you didn’t. Can you tell me why?” I ask him hoping he would talk to me.

“Mama.” He says.

“What about her?” I ask him. 

“She hasn’t come to see me. I thought she might not know where we were.” He tells me. 

“Did talking to Justin help?” I ask him.

“Yeah, Daddy told me that he was going to take care of it.” Gus tells me. 

“Did you and he decide he was Daddy?” I ask him.

“I told him that I wasn’t his kid and he told he thought of me as his.” He tells me.

“Gus, you know that we love you as much as we love Jewel and Aidan don’t you?” I ask him.

“I know you love me. I just didn’t know if Justin wanted me to be his too.” He tells me.

“Are you sure now?” I ask him.

“Yep, because he told me that I was special to him.” He tells me.

“It’s how we both feel about you, sonny boy.” I tell him. 

“Maybe Mama will feel that way soon.” He tells me.

Gus hops up and runs to play with his brother and sister, and I’m left to wonder if Justin was going to talk to Mel. I’ve left Mel alone so far because I didn’t want her to come see Gus if she couldn’t put aside her feelings and be his mother. She had to be the one to who wanted to be here, because kids know when you don’t want them around, but she needs to make a decision because Gus doesn’t need to be left waiting around. Max warned me Justin wouldn’t be a happy camper if the Mel situation didn’t improve for Gus. I’m sure Gus telling Justin he was worried that Mel wasn’t around would have him confronting Mel. If listening to Justin doesn’t work then she can listen to my lawyer revoking all visitation.

JUSTIN

I was standing in the kitchen watching Brian and the kids. It’s like my mind is rebooting and every moment of my time with Brian starts flooding through me. At first I had to wonder why I would be with someone who didn’t want my love. It took remembering what Max told me; that I was dealing with someone who dealt with being in an abusive home. I know he cared about me, even then, because he could have walked away when I left and gone on with his life but he didn’t. Instead he searched for me, and took my daughter as his own. In my mind those two things make up for any indecision on his part about my place in his life five years ago. 

“You’re back, did you get what you needed to do, done?” Brian asks me from the back door.

“We'll see tonight if it did any good.” I tell him. 

“You went to see Mel?” He asks me. 

“She needs to either be his mother or walk away. I told her it was up to her, but if she wants to be part of Gus’s life, tonight determines it.” I tell him. 

“I guess we'll see if she cares as much as she tells everyone.” He tells me. 

“I don’t get how she went from fighting with you for rights to him to barely seeing him. I watched you fighting yourself to give him up, then it's like the minute you said yes, she lets other shit give her free pass to play mommy only when it was convenient. When did she become so weak?” I ask him. 

“She always was, just hid it well. Lindsay was the person who made all the decisions, Mel just went along with them.” I tell him. 

“I used to see her as a tough as nails person. She always seemed like the one in charge in the house.” I tell him. 

“How in charge could she be? She let Lindsay pick me to be Gus’s father when she would rather have pretended I wasn't part of Lindsay life.” He tells me. 

“It does change the dynamics of that relationship when you look at from that perspective. I know I never would have agreed to Michael donating to us to have a child, it would have been a relationship ender if you had asked me to allow that.” I tell him.

“It's why they were having problems in the first place. Lindsay always made sure Mel had to prove she loved her, by being jealous of me.” He tells me. 

“You really managed to pick some screwed up people to be friends with. Michael, who plays ‘best friend’ but wants you to be more and spends all his time warning me off. And Lindsay, who chooses the one person guaranteed to piss off her partner to have a kid with. Then spends all her time acting like she’s trying to get us together. I guess I can’t say a lot because I really thought Lindsay liked me.” I tell him.

“She probably did when you were serving whatever purpose she wanted you for. Just like I was a way to pay for the things they couldn’t afford.” He tells me.

“I just wish that I had seen what they were like back then.” I tell him.

BRIAN

Justin starts pulling things out of the refrigerator to make lunch. I had to sit down because it just occured to me that he was talking like he knew everyone. How much does he remember? Before I could even ask the question he started talking.

“It started when I sat on the same couch you and I sat on when they wanted you to give up Gus. I was angry at Mel for neglecting Gus, and it was like how angry I was at all of you sitting there discussing Gus like any parent could be taken out of his life, and it wouldn’t matter to him. When I left there, I remembered my childhood home and the rest started playing back like a film.” He tells me.

“How much do you remember?” I ask him.

“Everything. I even drove to the house I lived in with my parents.” He tells me.

“Do you want to ask me anything about us?” I ask him.

“I don’t need to ask about a relationship that is no longer relevant to what we are doing now. As long as you promise that we aren’t going to be reliving that, I say we start from where we are now. We aren’t those people anymore, so let’s be who we want to be.” He tells me.

“I want to be Brian and Justin with our three kids.” I tell him.

“Good thing we already are Brian and Justin with our three kids.” He tells me, smiling.

I got up and walked over and held Justin, not Jay for the first time. 

MAX

I had to go back to New York because my assistant was overwhelmed with all the plans for the show. Apparently Liddy showed up and was telling her that she was in charge of Sam’s show. She was causing my assistant to pull her hair out. Emmett and I agreed that he should stay in Pittsburgh, until the opening. I wanted Liddy to regret showing her face in my gallery. 

“Max, I’m going to quit if she shows up and starts up again.” My assistant, Elaine tells me.

“I’ll deal with Liddy, just take care of what you need to.” I tell her.

“Promise if you kick her ass, I get to watch.” She tells me.

“Where is she?” I ask Elaine.

“In your office writing out instructions as to where Sam’s paintings are going to be hung.” She tells me rolling her eyes.

The bitch is seriously going to burn for this, no one uses my office. I walk to the office and see Liddy trying to get in my locked drawers. 

“Can I ask why you are in my office?” I ask her.

“I’m just making sure that Sam’s show is a success. I won’t have you giving Jay premium space and acting as though Sam isn’t the real reason people want to be at the show.” She tells me.

“That requires you to be in my private office?” I ask her.

“If you don’t want Sam to cancel, I suggest you stop worrying about where I am.” She tells me.

“I suggest you get out of my office, and if Sam has a problem with anything then Sam’s actual agent can tell me.” I tell her.

“I’m done anyway, by the way, how is Jay doing?” She asks me as she get’s her purse.

“He’s been fine, getting to know his family. He’s thinking about moving back here, said that people expected too much from him.” I tell her.

“It must be hard to not remember anything.” She tells me.

“How do you know he doesn’t remember anything?” I ask her.

“I meant that you tend to forget what your life was like when you move away.” She tells me.

Liddy hurries out of my office and I check to see if anything in my private files has been touched. It looked like she hadn’t gotten into the locked drawers. I looked at the paper on my desk, or should I say Liddy’s list of instructions. I noticed that she wanted her family invited to the show and I decided to make sure they are invited. I look at the number she left for her family to be contacted with and decide to make that wish come true for her. Elaine came in my office and was going to say something but I held my finger up so she knew I was on a call.

“Hello, I’m Max Forester with Forester Gallery. I was calling to personally invite you to a show at my gallery. Your daughter Lindsay put your names on the invitation list, she is a personal guest of one of the artists, Sam Auerbach… Yes I believe they are seeing each other.... I’m glad you want to help support your daughter’s partner… Let me get my assistant to give you the details.” I transfer Lindsay’s mother to Elaine’s line.

“Offer her accommodations at any hotel she wants, I want her to be here.” I tell Elaine.

“I can’t believe we are playing nice with Liddy.” She tells me.

“Playing Elaine, playing.” I tell her.