JUSTIN 

I finally managed to let Brian go, and looked at the face of my daughter. She was more beautiful than her pictures. She looked at me curiously, but instead of saying anything to me, turned to talk to Aidan.   

“Is that Daddy?” Jewel asks Aidan. 

“That’s Daddy, but why is he kissing new Dad?” Aidan ask Gus.

“Dad, why are you kissing him?” Gus ask Brian. 

“I was saying hello to him.” Brian tells him. 

“Daddy, are we supposed to kiss hello? You never told me.” Aidan tells me. 

“Um you could kiss your Uncle Max hello.” Max tells Aidan.

“UNCLE MAX, I missed you.” Aidan runs to him and smothers him in kisses.

“I came to see if you wanted to leave your daddy.” Max teases Aidan. 

“If I left Daddy, I wouldn’t have met the new kids and all these other people. Why don’t you leave Kevin and come live with us?” Aidan offers.

Brian didn’t seem to like that idea, but Max is part of our lives and he is going to have to accept Aidan loving Max. Max is the only family Aidan and I have had, and I won’t alienate him to make anyone happy.

“How was the talk with the kids?” I ask him. 

“They are four and five, they just think we added to the family. Aidan has been deferring to Gus, and doesn’t seem jealous of Jewel.” He tells me.

“What have they been doing?” I ask him.

“They took off to play, like they all were just instantly friends.” He tells me.

“It’s how kids operate, they play and decide if they like each other.” My mom tells us.

“Aidan hasn’t had a lot of friends his age.” I tell them.

“Yeah, Jay and I tended to keep him to ourselves. So why don’t we let the kids play and we talk about how you managed to lose Jay. Unless I like what I hear, I'm not going to let them end up regretting letting you near them, I’ll take them where you can’t find them.” Max tells them.

“But Uncle Max, I have friends, I want to stay.” Aidan tells him.

“I want you to be able to, but no one is going to hurt you or your daddy.” Max tells him.

“Jewel wants a Daddy too, can’t we take Jewel and Gus and Aunty Em, and New Dad and Grandma. If the Teddy man gets nicer he could come too, but I like Blake, so he could come too.” Aidan tells him.

“We might as well stay Aiddy, I don’t know if my island is big enough for all those people.” He tells Aidan.

“You own an island?” Gus asks him.

“No, but if I did I doubt it would be big enough to contain all the people Aiddy wants.” Max smiles at Gus.

“You can’t take my new daddy and brother away from me.” Jewel tells him and runs to me wrapping her arms around my legs.

I reached out my arms to see if she would let me hold her. She looked at Brian, who nodded and she let me pick her up.

“Where have you been?” Is the first thing she said to me.

“I was… lost for a while.” I tell her.

“You couldn’t find your mommy?” She asks me.

“No, but I wish I could have.” I tell her.

“Why?” She asks me.

“I would have wanted to see you and your brother growing up.” I tell her.

“You know Gussy?” She was all serious. I was trying to figure out a way to answer that when Gus surprises me.

“Daddy named me. Right Dad, remember Mommy couldn’t decide and you let him name me.” Gus tells Brian.

“I did?” I ask Brian.

“I asked you and you told us that you wouldn’t...” I interrupt him.

“Wouldn’t survive a day in school being named Abraham… but Gus is nice.” I say to him. Then realize that Brian is looking at me strangely. “What?” I ask him.

“That is what you said to us at the hospital.” He tells me.

“It just popped in my head.” I tell him. Unfortunately that happens sometimes, but I don’t get anything else from it.

“That happens to Jay sometimes, but he never remembers why he says things.” Max explains to Brian.

“Maybe it’s Baby trying to remember.” Emmett tells us. 

“But he doesn’t remember or at least he hasn’t, and who are you? What is with all the good looking men in the Pitts? I would have moved here if I knew they grow them like this. Shit, do you realize that you now have three kids? You think raising Aidan was hard, but raising three who are all the same age is going to be like a circus.” Max tells us.

“You had to find Emmett’s twin brother?” Brian asks me.

“Um, like that would really be all eewww, since I’m picturing Emmett in a very unbrotherly like way. Well actually I’m picturing you both in a very unbrotherly way, but you don’t seem to be looking away from Jay so why waste the time with you. So, where is Jewel’s other father? I plan on kicking the fuc… guy in the as… butt.” He tells everyone.

“I’m right here and that is all my children ever need to know.” Brian seems to be warning Max.

BRIAN

Max is going to have to understand that Jewel doesn’t need Michael fucking with her head. It’s going to cause a shitstorm when the Novotny’s find out Justin is back. I wanted to keep that from happening as long as possible, because Justin doesn’t know them and isn’t ready for Deb trying to play the caring mother figure. She would do that to try to get Justin to let her have her and Michael’s way.

“Yes you are, and trust me when I say, this it goes against every gay gene in my body, but could you put on a shirt, you’re kind of distracting. Since Jay isn’t into sharing, it would help me get my mind on something other than… well, where it is.” Max tells me.

“Where is it?” Jewel asks Max.

“In fantasy land, and Uncle Max needs to be able to talk to your Dad, without thinking of the possibilities.” He tells Jewel.

“Daddy, what are possibilities? Why are you crying?” She asks Justin. 

“I’m just really happy.” He tells her.

“Happy people smile, like this.” Jewel smiles her Justin smile at him. 

“Good God, you do own a shotgun Brian? Because that smile makes men want to do anything for Jay, and on her it’s going to cause a riot. Of course with all the beautiful kids you and Jay create, you two are going to have your hands full.” He tells me. 

“Not that I won’t be there to help you, because Jewel needs her Uncle Maxie.” Max tells us.

“Are you my Uncle too?” Gus ask him.

“Of course dear Gussy, there is enough of me to go around. Aunty Em can share me too.” He just earned points for including Gus and hitting on Emmett. 

Emmett and Jen get everyone to go into the kitchen, I wanted Justin to myself for a minute. After he released Jewel, I grabbed him to come with me. Justin was so interested in watching Jewel that he didn’t realize I pulled him into my bedroom.

“Is there a reason we’re in your bedroom?” Justin asks me.

“I wanted to put on a shirt and talk, without everyone else.” I tell him.

“Okay.” He starts looking around my room.

“I guess I want to know if you prefer Jay or Justin?” I ask him.

“Jay is who I am, Justin is like this person who was once me. It might be better to have people calling me Justin here. I have to get used to it.” He tells me.

“I know you said Max is only a friend, but I have to admit it’s hard for me to watch Aidan treat Max the way I want to be treated.” I tell him. I refuse to hide my feelings anymore, I want a chance at a fresh start with Justin. He might not remember me but I still love him.

“Max helped me raise Aidan, yes, but you need to understand that he also kept us from living in a shelter. He could have left us to figure it out, but Max has a wonderful heart and cares too much to turn his back on someone.” Justin tells me. He was looking at a painting on the wall, so he didn’t see how hard that was for me to hear. What had I done, but turn my back on him?

“I’ve regretted that for the last five years.” I tell him.

“What? Wait, that wasn’t about you. From what I’ve heard, you didn’t just accept I was gone, you searched for me.” He tells me.

“I never found you.” I tell him.

“I stayed away from people, nobody wanted a homeless person near them. I learned to not look people in the eye and to hide in plain site, to avoid being kicked out of places. When I started showing my work it took a lot of convincing for Max to get me to do it. I was still having issues with people not treating me like I was scum. I still have problems with it, I just learned not to think that people could see the homeless guy, dressed up.” He tells me.

“I kicked you out and in a way forced that life on you.” I need him to blame me.

“No, apparently I ran away instead of doing what an adult would do, which would have been force you to listen. Brian, my life wasn’t horrible, it just wasn’t always good. You seem to be apologizing like something would have changed what I did, which it seems was to run from you. Don’t you see if I had stayed here things would have been different? You need to stop blaming yourself for something that both of us played a part in. Plus, if it helps, I don’t remember any of it, so truthfully you're starting to sound like a twat.” He tells me with a smile.

“It’s just I want us to be able to pick up where we left off, but I can see you backing away.” I tell him.

“I’m not backing away, but I don’t know you. What if the person I am isn’t the person you fell in love with?” He asks me.

“Or you don’t like the person you fell in love with, because everything wasn’t wine and roses. I pushed you away and fucked men in front of you. I treated you as if you weren’t anything but an annoyance to me.” I tell him the whole truth, because someone is going to tell him these things.

“I don’t know the answers but I can tell you there is something about you that makes me want to try.” He tells me.

“I succeed, not try.” I warn him.

“Well you’d better impress me and Aidan, because we are hard to sell bullshit to.” He tells me.

I’m going to have the campaign of my life, because I am no longer looking at the kid who saw me as a God and worshiped me no matter what I did to him. Justin expects more than the shitty guy yanking him around, because he is a street kid who made it out of the hell his life was, and that is where we can find common ground. At least he looked disappointed when I was finally dressed, it’s a start.