Justin woke to the feel of Brian's breath puffing against his skin. Without opening his eyes he asked his partner with a smirk, "Starting without me?"

When the only response was heavier puffing, Justin opened his eyes. He blinked a couple of times trying to bring Brian into focus. Brian's eyes were opened wide, focused on him yet with a slightly glazed look.

"Brian, what the fuck is going on?" Justin asked, his vision finally clearing of the sleep induced fog.

Brian's breathing notched up a bit more. Justin began to worry that Brian was having a panic attack.

"Listen to me, Brian. Take a deep breath." Justin waited for Brian to follow his instructions. "That's it, hold it... one, two, three, four, five. Blow it out slowly... that's it, one more time... hold it... one, two, three, four, five. Blow it out slowly."

Brian's breathing began to slow down so Justin took that time to take a better look at his partner. He watched the glazed look leave Brian's hazel eyes, but before he could go any further in his inspection, Brian spoke.

"Sunshine... do you notice anything... unusual this morning?" Brian asked, his voice slightly shaky.

"Is something wrong, Brian? Are you alright?" Justin asked nervously.

Suddenly Brian threw the covers to the end of the bed, leaving them both naked to the cool air of the room.

"Holy Fuck!" Justin screamed as he looked down. He scrambled to his knees, one hand flying up to cover his mouth in astonishment, the other reaching cautiously to Brian's rounded stomach. "What the hell? Oh, my God! Brian, are you alright? Are you in pain? I'll call an ambulance!" Justin turned so quickly to reach for the phone that he nearly fell off the bed.

Brian grabbed Justin's arm worried he would fall. Now that he was beginning to calm down, Justin was working himself into a panic attack. He pulled Justin to him as he sat up. They held each other tight, both trying to comfort the other. Slowly Justin calmed down so they could talk.

"Do not call an ambulance," Brian said firmly.

"Brian, you need to see a doctor. I mean, I know you've been eating a lot more the past couple of months... all that heavy Italian food Deb has been cooking and sending home with us. You've even taken to eating cookies with me and Gus, but this..." Justin stalled out on what to say.

"I've been working out a lot more though, trying to counteract Deb's cooking as well as the cookies you guys force me to eat." Brian tried to scowl.

Justin wasn't buying into it. He had caught Brian eating cookies a couple of times when Brian thought he was alone at the house.

"But, Brian, this is too sudden. This can't be just from all the heavy food and snacks. You need to see a doctor," Justin insisted. He placed his hand gently on Brian's stomach, afraid he might hurt him if he wasn't careful.

"I'm not leaving the house looking like this, Justin. If I see a doctor, he's coming to the house, I'll be fucked if I'm going anywhere outside this house!" Brian growled and tried to sit up straighter jostling his stomach.

A giggle burst out of Justin before he could stop it. He glanced up at Brian who was truly scowling now and frowned at him.

"What the fuck, Justin? This isn't funny!" Brian snapped.

"I know, Brian. It's just..." he stopped, unsure if he should continue.

"What?" Brian said through gritting teeth.

"Maybe we shouldn't be calling a doctor... maybe we should be calling a certain elf?" Justin raised one eyebrow. A matching one swiftly appeared on Brian's face. "It's just that when you moved to sit up, your stomach... well, it..."

"What?!" Brian barked.

"It felt like jelly," Justin whispered.

"Oh, Fuck No!" Brian bellowed angrily. "No fucking way, Justin!" Brian hurriedly moved, leaving Justin sitting alone on the bed. He began to pace the expanse of the room, hands pushing roughly through his hair, teeth gnashing together, mumbling under his breath.

"Brian... Brian." Justin tried to get his partner's attention. He wanted Brian to know he was going to contact Bernard. He crawled off the bed, moving to stand in Brian's path.

Brian came to an abrupt stop, nearly toppling them both over when he found Justin in his way.

"Brian, I'm going down to the office to get -"

A shower of sparkling glitter interrupted Justin, announcing the arrival of Bernard.

"Whoa!" Bernard shouted, covering his eyes and turning away from the two naked men in the room.

"Pretty disgusting, huh, Bernard," Brian sneered.

"Uhm, actually no, just... well, you know... you're both... you know... naked, with everything... you know, n-naked," Bernard stammered turning a bright shade of red.

"Shit, a blushing elf." Brian smirked. "Maybe we should change your name to Bashful."

Justin swatted Brian on the arm then grabbed their robes. They were both covered in a matter of seconds.

"It's alright, Bernard, you can turn around now." Justin noticed Brian was having difficulty getting the robe to stay closed over his stomach. It looked as though it was actually a little bigger than it was only moments ago. He reached over and helped him tie the belt tighter.

Still blushing Bernard turned around giving both men a shy smile.

"How did you know to come? I was just about to get that thing Quentin gave us," Justin questioned the elf.

"Santa's Helper." Bernard nodded. "Well, we've been expecting one of you to change. Actually it should have started sooner. When nothing was happening, we decided to send a few elves to stay as close to the two of you as possible without being seen. They're all armed with a Santa Meter."

"A what?" Brian asked trying to stay calm. He gave a quick glance around the room, but the only elf he saw was Bernard.

"A Santa Meter," the elf replied, "it monitors Santa's emotions, well, your emotions, Santa." Bernard gave Brian a genuine smile.

There was a knock on the door followed by Gus' voice calling out, "Dad, Dad II... are you guys awake? Can I come in?"

"Come on in, Gus," Justin said.

The door opened and Gus trotted in expecting to find his dads still in bed. He was surprised to find not only were they both up, but Bernard was in the room as well.

"Bernard!" Gus shouted, rushing over to give the elf a hug.

"Hey, Gus! Have you been good this year?" Bernard asked with a grin.

"You bet I have! Gotta be when your dad's Santa Claus," Gus replied. He turned to look at his fathers, his eyes widening when he caught sight of Brian's rounded stomach.

"Wow! So, Dad, you're the real Santa! That is so awesome!" Gus squealed.

The instant Gus called him 'the real Santa' Brian felt his world shift. He started toward the bathroom when he caught a glimpse of himself in the full-length mirror in the corner of the room. Moving at a snail's pace, Brian approached the mirror, his eyes trained on his reflection. He pulled the belt loose, letting the robe fall open. After several minutes of quiet contemplation and a thorough examination of his body, Brian retied the belt on his robe and turned to look at the other occupants of the room.

"No," Brian stated emphatically. "I won't do it. I can't."

"But, Dad," Gus whispered sadly, his earlier elation plummeting. He couldn't believe his dad didn't want to be Santa Claus.

"I'm sorry, Gus. I just can't," Brian repeated softly.

Justin approached his partner slowly. He reached out to pull Brian to him, only Brian backed away.

"Brian, you can do this. It's who you are, who you were meant to be." Justin reached again, but Brian stepped further away.

"Justin... if I can't see my dick... no one will... You understand me?" Brian whispered desperately to his lover. He turned and walked to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

The despair Justin had seen in Brian's eyes brought tears to his own. He watched his lover walk away, the door closing, shutting him out. Justin turned in time to prevent Gus from following his father.

"But, Dad II, we have to make him understand." Tears began to fall from Gus' dark brown eyes, the only physical sign that Lindsay was his mother; except for the color of his eyes, Gus was all Brian.

Justin hugged Gus to his chest, placing a gentle kiss on his son's head. He looked over at Bernard. The elf looked as crestfallen as Gus.

"We'll figure something out, Gus. Don't worry, we'll figure something out." Justin wasn't sure what would happen; yet somehow he knew it would all work out.

~*~*~*~

Brian had been in the bathroom a long time. Justin had asked Bernard to take Gus down to the kitchen so he could have some breakfast. The elf was happy to help in any way he could. They left Justin alone in the bedroom for a while, giving him time to think.

When they returned, Brian was still in the bathroom and Justin was sitting on the bed sketching, his artist's case sat next to him. He looked up when they walked in.

"Bernard, you said that the change should have started before now, right?" Justin asked then turned his attention back to his sketchpad.

"Yeah, it should have started when we sent the list or even before that," he responded.

"Any idea why it didn't?" Justin continued to sketch.

"No." Bernard shook his head as he spoke.

Justin picked up a different colored pencil and shaded in a small area before changing to another color.

"Dad II, what are you drawing?" Gus asked, curious about the sketch.

"You'll see in a minute, Gus." Justin smiled at his son. "Be patient."

"Okay," Gus sighed. He sounded so much like Brian that Justin snickered.

After a few minutes of silence Justin put his pencils away and moved the artist's case to the bedside table. He closed the sketchpad, and hugging it to his chest, Justin climbed off the bed and crossed the room to the bathroom where he gently rapped on the door.

"What?" was the reply muffled slightly by the closed door.

"We need to talk, Brian, and there's something I want to show you." Justin spoke loudly through the door, but kept his voice gentle.

Bernard and Gus had both moved to the window seat while waiting for Justin to finish his sketch. They watched anxiously as Justin tried to coax Brian out of the bathroom.

"Please, Brian. I think I may know how to help." Justin continued to talk calmly, although inside he was jumping.

The bathroom door slowly opened. Brian stepped out, not looking at anyone in the room.

Justin reached out, thankful that Brian didn't pull away this time; he cupped Brian's face, stood on tiptoe and placed a kiss lovingly on Brian's lips.

"I love you, Brian... you... It won't matter if you're young and trim or you're wrinkled and fat. I love you and only you."

Brian finally looked into Justin's beautiful upturned face and said, "I love you, Sunshine. No matter what, I love you, too."

Justin smiled a smile to honor his nickname and pulled Brian to sit on the bed.

"I want to show you something. Gus, Bernard, you need to see this, too." Justin waited for the pair to join them. Once everyone was situated Justin opened his sketchpad.

"I've been thinking about what you said, Bernard, about how the change should have started months ago. What if it really did start then? What if Brian's subconscious mind was controlling his body's reaction, not allowing it to change?" Justin turned the sketchpad around.

On the page was a drawing of Brian as Santa Claus - a slender, but not too slender, Santa Claus, complete with a neatly trimmed white beard and hair.

"Fuck! My hair will change, too? And a full beard?" Brian felt his world tilting again.

"Brian!" Justin grabbed his chin, forcing Brian to look at him. "I heard you shaving only fifteen minutes ago. You already have stubble growing in."

Brian reached up, running his hand along his chin, dislodging Justin's hand.

"Fuck!" he said harshly in a low voice.

"You know, Justin may be on to something. If it was your subconscious mind preventing the changes from beginning, then maybe you can control them. Maybe you can keep yourself trim... except during the Christmas season of course. After all, Santa makes the rules," Bernard offered.

"You can do it, Dad," Gus stated with confidence.

"Well, I guess it's worth a try," Brian agreed with a sigh. "But if this doesn't work..."

Only time would tell.