“So, what’s the deal with you and Lindsay’s girlfriend?” Justin asked Brian on the way to Chez Munchers for dinner.

Brian sighed. “Me and Mel have never gotten along. See, me and Linds, we uh… had a bit of a thing in college-”

“A thing?” Justin asked.

“Yeah… we spent some very weird, confusing nights together during our junior year.”

Justin laughed. “What? You mean that you, the super stud that has fucked who knows how many guys, actually managed to get it up for a woman?”

“Somehow, yes,” Brian said. “We shared an art history class in our freshman year, and we became friends. We both came out to each other very early on, but one night when we were smoking pot in her room, we let our curiosities run wild. It was the first time for both of us, being with someone of the opposite sex. It actually wasn’t half bad. We hooked up a couple more times after that, but the last night we were together, she confessed that she had been in love with me since we first met, and that I was the only guy she could ever imagine being with. I told her I didn’t love her like that and we couldn’t ever do it again, but that we could stay friends.

“Anyway, she met Melanie a couple years after graduation through their mutual dyke friends. I don’t know what Linds had told her about our past, but Mel hated me from the moment we met. We cuss at each other almost every time we’re in the same room together. She’s always found me to be a threat to their relationship, even though she must know that Linds and I would never be more than friends again. She is more than aware of my reputation with the fellas.”

“But she was okay with you being the father of her and Lindsay’s baby?” Justin asked.

“No, she wasn’t, actually,” Brian said, chuckling. “But as soon as they decided that they wanted a baby, Linds insisted that I provide the necessary ingredient to make it happen, and she somehow convinced Mel to let me be the father. I guess that Linds hoped it would make Mel and I get along better. I know that Mel loves Gus like he’s her own, but her opinion of me hasn’t improved, despite the fact that he’s half of me. She actually came to visit me once in the hospital for about ten minutes, but she prefaced it with saying that Linds made her do it.”

They soon pulled up in front of the house and walked up to the front door. Brian rang the bell and Melanie answered the door a few moments later.

“Brian,” Melanie said flatly in greeting.

“Melanie,” Brian answered in the same tone.

Melanie then looked over to Justin and smiled. “You must be Justin. Please, come on in.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Melanie,” he said as he handed her a bottle of Pinot Noir.

“Oh, my favorite, thank you,” Melanie said before shutting the door behind them.

“Brian picked it out,” Justin said.

Melanie made eye contact with Brian for a moment. “Well, it will go great with the chicken.”

Brian looked around the living room. “Where’s my son?”

“Our son is in his high chair in the kitchen,” Melanie said. “I was just finishing giving him his dinner.”

The three of them went into the kitchen, where Lindsay was taking a pan of roasted chicken pieces out of the oven. “Hey, guys. You’re just in time.”

Brian uncorked the wine while Justin went to the restroom to take his insulin and evening pills. Gus finished his last few bites of his meal, which consisted of pre-cooked chicken cubes that Melanie let him feed to himself with his chubby little fingers, along with apple sauce and cooked carrots that she spoon-fed him. Melanie then used a wet rag to wipe the baby’s face and hands while Lindsay and Brian brought the food to the table.

Melanie put Gus in his playpen that had been brought into the dining room, and they each filled their plates.

Brian poured a glass of wine for each of them, including a small portion for Justin.

“Uh… I better not,” Justin said about the wine.

“You now have a healthy kidney that filtered out years of my alcohol intake. A few sips won’t hurt you,” Brian answered.

Justin snickered. “Alright, but just a little bit.”

“So, Justin, Lindsay told me that you are an aspiring artist,” Melanie said.

“Yeah, I’ve enjoyed drawing and painting for a long time. I would always bring a sketchbook with me to my dialysis appointments over the last two years, and I accumulated quite a collection.”

“Did you remember to bring your sketchbook for me to look at?” Lindsay asked.

Justin nodded after taking a sip of the wine, which he found to be rather tasty. “Yep, it’s in my messenger bag next to the front door. I carry it everywhere with me. Also, I called my mom earlier and asked her to go in my old room and make sure my dad hadn’t done anything with my other drawings and paintings. She said they are all still where I left them, and she’s going to bring some of them with her when she comes to pick me up for my doctor’s appointment tomorrow.”

“Well, I’ll look at your sketchbook tonight, and then I can go to Deb’s in the next few days to look at your other stuff,” Lindsay said.

“I’d really appreciate that, thank you,” Justin said.

The four of them chatted about the beautiful weather they had been having lately in between bites.

“So, Brian,” Melanie suddenly said from across the table. “It must be driving you crazy, being physically restricted after your surgery. I’m sure the boys at Babylon are chomping at the bit.”

Brian shrugged. “I went to the doctor yesterday morning for a check-up and to get my stitches removed. He said I can do ‘light activities’ now, but not to push myself for a few more weeks.”

Justin thought back to the light activities they engaged in the previous evening, feeling himself grow hard while remembering Brian’s hands and mouth on him in the alley while they played “Who Comes First?”

“What?” Lindsay asked Justin, seeing the sudden smile on his face.

Justin rolled in his lips for a moment. “Nothing.”

Almost on cue, Brian reached under the table with his left hand and rubbed Justin’s thigh. The hand soon made its way to his crotch, making Justin squirm in his seat.

Lindsay looked at Justin in concern, oblivious to what was going on under her dining room table. “Are you okay?”

Justin grabbed Brian’s wandering hand and pulled it away. “Yeah… this risotto’s awesome, by the way. My mom’s risotto always tastes like dirt.”

Lindsay smiled. “I got the recipe from my parents’ housekeeper. She’s an amazing cook.”

Justin took the last sip of his wine before feeling Brian’s hand return, immediately finding the stiff lump in his pants. Although he never thought he would do such a thing while in Brian’s presence, Justin willed his erection to go away. He again pulled Brian’s hand off of him as he tried to act aloof, so as not to attract attention from his hosts.

“So, uh, Mel, what do you do for a living?” Justin asked.

“I’m a lawyer,” Melanie answered.

Brian’s hand again found Justin’s dick under the table. Knowing he wasn’t going to give up, Justin tried to pretend like what Brian was doing wasn’t affecting him. “Oh, really? What type of law do you specialize in?” he asked, stifling a groan. Damn, that feels good…

“I take on a variety of cases: family disputes, personal injury, civil rights, criminal defense.”

“She just made partner last year,” Lindsay said proudly before leaning over and giving Melanie a kiss on the cheek.

“Hmm,” Justin said as Brian continued to rub him through his pants. “And… and what school did you go to?”

“I got my B.A. in political science from Carnegie Melon, then my J.D. in law from Columbia.”

Justin tightened his abdominal muscles to fight his building orgasm, causing a twinge of pain at his incision. He sucked in breath before saying, “Oh, Columbia… that’s in New York City, right?”

“Yep,” Melanie said. “I thought I was going to stay there in Manhattan after graduation, but I met Linds when I came back here during spring break of my final year at Columbia. We maintained a phone relationship, and I just knew I had to come back home to be with her after getting my law degree.”

Justin tightly gripped his fork. “I’ve always wanted to go to Manhattan. I’d like to see one of the musicals currently playing.”

“If you ever get the chance, I recommend seeing Rent. It’s amazing,” Melanie said.

“Br… Brian, uh,” Justin paused to look over at the man, who gave him a shit-eating grin. “Brian said that you two…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Justin came in his pants, resulting in him letting out a strangled moan. He covered it with a cough. “Pardon me. Brian told me that you and Lindsay met through mutual friends?”

Brian placed his frisky hand on the table before Lindsay said, “Yes, we were set up on a blind date. It was love at first sight.”

Justin smiled and nodded as he reached down and pulled his pants and underwear away from the wet spot between his legs. “That’s great. Uh… I need to use the restroom.” He then got up from the table and ran up the stairs as quickly as he could.

“Is he okay?” Lindsay asked Brian.

“Yeah… I’m sure he’s fine,” Brian said before taking a sip of wine. “Maybe his medicine upset his stomach or something.”

Lindsay pushed back from the table and picked up her empty plate. “Why don’t you go upstairs and check on him while Mel and I clean up?”

Brian made his way upstairs and knocked on the closed bathroom door. “Justin?”

“What?” he heard the young man growl.

Brian chuckled before trying the doorknob, which was locked. “Come on, Sunshine, let me in.”

He heard the lock tumble a few moments later, and he opened the door to find Justin with his pants and underwear around his knees.

“You son of a bitch,” Justin said as he wiped up the mess the other man created with a wet washcloth.

Brian chuckled again. “I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not,” Justin snarled. “Christ, that was embarrassing. I had a fucking orgasm in front of two lesbians!”

Brian walked over to stand behind him, and he bent over Justin’s back to kiss his neck. “It made a boring dinner rather enjoyable though, didn’t it?”

Justin huffed out a breath. “Was this punishment for accepting Lindsay's dinner invitation?”

"If I were punishing you, your butt cheeks would be bright red," Brian answered.

********************

Justin stood in the doorway of Gus’s room an hour later while he watched Brian, who had his son in his lap while sitting in a rocking chair, read Gus a story.

“Then he went into the room where his very new baby daughter was sleeping,” Brian read in a gentle voice. “He picked her up in his arms and very slowly rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while he rocked her he sang: I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, as long as I’m living my baby you’ll be*.”

Brian closed the book and sat it on the small table next to the rocker. Justin wiped the tears from his eyes as Brian carried Gus over and deposited his baby in his crib.

“Goodnight, Sonny Boy,” Brian whispered. “Dada loves you.”

Justin walked out into the hallway, and Brian closed the door behind them. He looked at Justin in concern after seeing the blonde’s wet eyes. “What?”

“That was really beautiful… Dada,” Justin said.

Brian rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

The two men returned to the living room, where Lindsay and Melanie were on the couch as they both looked through Justin’s sketchbook.

“These are wonderful, Justin,” Lindsay said.

Melanie pulled the book out of Lindsay’s hands. “Although, there seems to be a recurring theme…”

She then turned the book to show it to Brian. The page showed a sketch of him wearing a suit while sitting in a booth at a diner, a cup of coffee in his hand.

Brian smiled in approval, as he had never seen Justin’s work before. “That’s really good - perfect likeness.”

“Thanks,” Justin said as he looked down at his feet.

Melanie turned the page and rolled her eyes. “And then there’s this little gem.”

That sketch showed Brian lying naked on the Le Corbusier chaise lounge in his loft, his hardened dick on display.

Brian snorted. “Little? You call that little? I know you probably haven’t seen very many of them, but…”

Melanie looked at Justin, then Lindsay, noticing a blush on the faces of both blondes. “Gross.”

Brian took the sketchbook from Melanie and sat down in the armchair, starting from the first page. As Melanie had said, nearly each drawing in the book was of him in various poses and states of dress and undress.

“You're certainly good enough to be accepted into PIFA,” Lindsay said to Justin.

“Really?” Justin said. “You’re not just saying that to be nice?”

“No, I mean it,” Lindsay said. “Some of my second-year students don’t have the portrait skills that you do.”

“Well, I started drawing cartoons when I was younger,” Justin said. “The Yellow Submarine is my favorite movie, and it made me want to become an animator. Then I started doing landscapes. I did my first portrait, which was of my mother, for an art assignment in junior high. I got an ‘A’ on it. I had some great art teachers in school… of course, that was before I had to drop out because of my health problems.”

“You can’t teach talent, though,” Lindsay said. “Either you have it or you don’t, and you certainly have it. By the way, I spoke with my friend in financial aid earlier, and she suggested that you put in an application as soon as possible. Although we’re on summer break, the admissions office is still open. Did you ever complete high school?”

“I have my GED. Is that enough?” Justin said.

“Yes. From what I’ve heard, PIFA accepts students with GEDs,” Lindsay answered. “Once your mom brings over more of your drawings to Deb’s, I can help you get a portfolio together, and I’ll bring you a copy of the school application.”

“That would be amazing, thank you,” Justin said, his smile practically lighting up the room.

Lindsay stood up to give Justin a hug. “You’re welcome, Sweetie.”

“Well, we ought to get going,” Brian said as he stood up and handed the sketchbook back to Justin. “Dinner was great, Linds.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Lindsay said as she enveloped Brian in a hug. “You’re welcome anytime, you know… both of you.”

Melanie gave Justin a hug and a kiss on the cheek before opening the front door fom them. “It was really great meeting you, Justin.”

“You, too, Mel,” Justin said.

Melanie and Brian nodded goodbye to each other before the two men walked out to the Jeep.

“That went very well,” Justin said once they were inside the vehicle. “Melanie seems a lot nicer than you described.”

Brian scoffed as he put the key in the ignition. “She was playing nice for you, trust me. And Linds is right: you are a great artist… and I’m not just saying that because I seem to be your favorite subject, as of late.”

Justin giggled. “Thanks. I had a lot of free time while I was in the hospital to draw, and you were all I could think about.”

Justin felt a moment of confusion when Brian turned at the end of the block in the opposite direction to take them back to Debbie’s house. “Where are we going?” Justin asked.

Brian didn’t answer. It soon became obvious that they were heading straight towards the loft.