Should Old Acquaintance

Chapter 12

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"I'll have a look at it, Father Tom," John said as he headed up the stairs. "See you in your office in a few minutes."

John climbed to the top of the stairs and then proceeded up into the nether regions of St. Anthony's. He had been called by Father Tom to come have a look at why there was a major leak in one section of the church. John had already been up on the roof outside, and he suspected he had found the problem. He was doing the inside examination to be sure that his suspicions were correct. If they were, he would save the church mega bucks. The problem could be fixed with some new properly installed flashing, and not with a complete re-roofing as the contractor had informed Father Tom.

Some minutes later, having decided that he was right in his evaluation of the situation, John made his way back down to the main floor of the church. As he came out of the stairwell he bumped into a woman who leapt back when he touched her.

"Sorry, ma'am," John said in his best contrite voice.

"You might watch where you're going," the woman criticized in her most put-upon voice. She smoothed her dress before looking up at who had bumped her. "Oh my!" she reacted. "Brian!"

John chuckled recognizing Brian's mother. "No, ma'am. I'm John Anderson, your son's brother."

"My son's brother," Joan said as if truly digesting this fact for the first time. "You do look so much like Brian."

"I'll take that as a compliment," John smiled.

"It wasn't meant as a compliment … just as a statement of fact," Joan said coldly.

"I'll still take it as a compliment. Brian is one good looking man."

"Are you one of them too?"

"One of…? Oh, you mean homosexual. Why yes, I am."

"You shouldn't sound so proud. It's disgusting."

"I beg your pardon!" John said drawing himself up to his full height. "There is nothing disgusting about my life at all. I lived the first forty years of my life like I was straight. I was never really happy, and it's only since I've found my true self that I have a husband and a son and all the happiness that I can handle. I owe an awful lot of that to Brian."

"Brian? What did he do? Corrupt you?"

"How can you say such things about your own son? Brian is a wonderful man, if you would ever open your eyes and your mind and your heart enough to see what he truly is."

"I know what he is," Joan said ice dripping from her voice. She turned to walk away.

"Not so fast," John said. He had been about to grab her arm but thought better of it. "You're going to hear me out."

Joan stopped and turned back. "I have nothing further to say to you."

"Well, I have something further to say to you. You can either listen to me here … quietly. Or, I can shout it across the church at you."

Joan looked around to see a few people kneeling or sitting in the pews, praying or meditating. One of them was Ruth Mitchell, the biggest busybody in the church. That would be all she'd need was for Ruth to hear what this Anderson person was going to say. She'd never be able to show her face in the church again. "Okay," Joan said, pulling John into a side chapel. They sat down in one of the pews. The room was empty otherwise.

"Why do you have such harsh feelings towards Brian?" John had to ask.

"The Bible says…"

"Bullshit!" John reacted. "You use the Bible as your scapegoat. Why do you always criticize and condemn everything Brian does?"

"How dare you!"

"I dare, Mrs. Kinney. Jack may have married you, but he loved my mother." John had wanted to say that for a long time. "Jack was my father too, and I'm gay. My mother loves me and thinks I have made something of myself. Why can't you love Brian? Why do you always have to run him down?"

"You don't know anything," Joan spat out. The references to Jack really hit home. She didn't like to think about Jack being the father of this man.

"Then why don't you enlighten me? I'd love to know."

Joan looked into John's eyes. They were Brian's eyes, and Jack's eyes. She had loved Jack at one time, but she had always known that he didn't truly love her. And now she knew why. He loved this man's mother. That was part of the reason he had kept a part of himself away from her. That had always hurt her, so she had done the same thing to him. She had become more remote and demanding, as if she could force him to love her, or at least make him suffer the way she did. That's how the "warden" had come about.

John watched the emotions flash across Joan's face, and he waited.

"You won't like what you're about to hear," Joan said with a sigh.

"I'll take my chances."

"Brian was the child I always wanted. Claire, she was the mistake that bound Jack to me, but Brian, he was to be the symbol of our love, our commitment to our marriage." Joan stopped and drew a ragged breath.

"Then why don't you love him?"

"I do, but…" Joan didn't know what words to use to explain this, but she decided to try. "When I told Jack I was pregnant with Brian, he was supposed to be happy. He was supposed to love me. He was supposed to want our marriage. Instead…"

"Instead?"

"He told me to get rid of the baby," Joan said as a silent tear ran down her cheek.

John flinched. He had never heard this part of Brian's story. "Did Brian know that?"

"Yes," Joan breathed. "He knows."

John shook his head. "But you didn't get rid of the baby."

"No, I thought I could convince Jack that this was the baby he wanted, and when it turned out to be a boy, his son, I thought he would be happy."

"But he wasn't?"

"No, he never wanted the baby and he never let me forget that. His drinking increased and he stayed out late, and I know he had other women. I grew to resent Brian for putting even a greater divide between Jack and me."

"How can that be Brian's fault?" John asked. "He was just a baby."

"I know, but it didn't stop the resentment, and then I found out that he was gay and…"

"And you condemned him to Hell."

Joan nodded her head.

"Isn't it time to put some of these demons to rest?" John asked daring to lay his hand on top of Joan's.

She flinched but didn't draw her hand away. "Jack used to touch my hand like that when we first met. It meant he had something important to say to me."

"I have something important to say to you," John said gently. "In a few weeks, Brian and Justin's daughter is going to be baptized. I think Brian is going to invite you. You should come."

"He won't invite me," Joan said shaking her head.

"I think he will. And you should come."

"I should?" she asked seemingly bewildered.

"It could be a new start for each of you."

"I … I'll think about it," Joan said. She stood and looked down at this man who was so much like Jack, maybe even more than Brian. "I will think about it," she repeated as she disappeared from the chapel.

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"And just where do you think you're going, Sunshine?" Brian bellowed at Justin as he neared the construction site.

"Fuck, Brian! You nearly gave me a heart attack! I was just looking." Justin jumped back from the newly poured foundation.

"Justin, you and construction, not a safe combination." Brian glared at his spouse, the memories of his and John's mishap at the theater flooded Brian.

"Oh, can it, Kinney. Nothing's going to happen. And why aren't you worried about Bree and Patrick. They're out here all the time."

"Not alone, they're not, and they have more sense to stay away."

"Asshole," Justin groused but he backed away from the edge of the foundation. "I'm not a baby," Justin mumbled under his breath as he drew closer to Brian.

"I know you're not." Brian smiled as Justin instinctively went to Brian's side as he raised his arm and placed it protectively over Justin's shoulder. Justin's arm snaked around Brian's waist as always. "But you know how I worry," Brian said to soothe Justin's ruffled feathers as they strolled back to the house. Changing the subject, Brian wanted to know how the Kinney research was going.

"Make any new discoveries in the journal? I haven't seen your nose out from within those big binders for weeks."

"Yes, I think I did," Justin answered enthusiastically.

"Happy discoveries?" Brian asked hopefully. For the most part, the Kinney journal was a sad testament to the pain and suffering those two men had to endure over their life together. It had taken a lot of restraint of Brian's part not to take the whole damn thing and burn it. He was tired of seeing Justin looking sad or with tears in his eyes. Life was stressful enough without that added burden.

"Want to see?"

"Sure," Brian answered with a small sigh. He hoped for some good news. They headed inside to sit in the sun porch and look at the journal.

The war is over and Patrick and I will be able to return to San Antonio. We have heard that our meager home still stands if not somewhat damaged. What does it matter? As long as we have four walls that we can call home, we will be satisfied. I have written to Martha in preparation for our homecoming. She was good enough to store our possessions before we had to flee and when we return she will send them to us. She is such a good woman. I have told her many times in the past that I would release her from our bonds so that she may marry again to one that is worthy of her love, but she refuses. She says she is satisfied with our arrangements and will brook no argument. I am truly blessed.

"Martha Kinney was cool for lack of a better term. She must have really loved Kinney," Brian stated after he read the entry.

"Wait, there's more." Justin was almost bouncing as he shoved another page into Brian's hand.

My dear Martha has decided to take Katherine home to Pennsylvania. The child's mother died en route to San Antonio, stricken with a fever. Patrick was heartbroken. He had developed a true relationship of sorts, with her. He had hopes of having a son one day. I mourned his loss. But the child was his solace. And now that we are home, to stay I hope, we are unable to care for her properly. Our housekeeper has offered to help but the child needs a mother and someone who is not swayed by prejudice. I had written my goodly wife and her first thought was to journey here to meet Katherine and to renew ties with me. I do not wish to hurt my beloved wife but she is a stubborn woman. She has left us with little choice. Patrick is unsure of her motives. But two grown men, living with a baby in a land that is only now trying to repair itself, we will take heart knowing that sweet little Katherine will be well cared for.

"Fuck me!"

"You see? Maybe there is another Kinney running around in the state of Pennsylvania."  Justin smiled smugly.

"You're wrong, Justin, not another Kinney, another Taylor."

"Fuck me!"

"My pleasure, where's the Squirt?" Brian leered suggestively at his husband.

"Um, spending time with Patrick at Grandma Claire's."

"How convenient. And us with a big brass bed right over there just waiting for us to fuck on." Brian waggled his eyebrows at Justin who was still a little shell shocked.

"You're incorrigible."

"Your point?"

"Race ya!" Justin scrambled from his chair, throwing off his clothes as he dove onto the brass bed. Brian was fast on his heels.

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The July 4th weekend was closing in on the Kinney-Taylor tribe and everything was in the ready for the combining of the cottages. As simple as John said the process was, it really wasn't. The leveling of the land behind the sun porch went well as did the pouring of the new foundation and the laying of the new pipes and cables. It was the actual moving of the house itself that had John and Gordon concerned. You don't move a one hundred year old house without any trepidation. But John and Gordon decided it was best to keep those facts from Bobby and the rest of the family.

As the first crew was preparing the land, the second crew was preparing the house.

Each day Bobby and Claire boxed up all the breakables. Anything that could fall was laid down onto the floor. Gordon, John and the crew inspected every brick and stone. Anything that remotely looked loose was reinforced. The plan was to jack up the house, hoist it en masse onto a flat bed, then truck it to the cottage. The drive itself would take the better part of a day. The next day the house would then be placed onto its new foundation and then reconnected to the new pipes and cables. For most of July, the plan was to raise the roof to give John and Bobby a working attic, attach the home to the sun porch, make an opposing balcony, complete with spiral staircase and rewire the home. No more fuses.

Claire and Debbie decided to have an old fashioned 'barn raising' party to celebrate the house moving and July 4th. The difficult part of that plan would be convincing Brian. Claire and Debbie decided to call in their secret weapon, Justin.

Up in the attic aka Brian's office, Justin was having a 'conference call' with Claire and Debbie.

"Justin, you know Brian will listen to you. You're the only one who can do this."

"Sunshine, Claire's right. The asshole would never say no to you."

"Claire, Deb, I..."

"Justin, the weather is going to be perfect. We'll all help to cook and clean up. You two won't have to lift a finger. And we can call Emmett."

"That's a wonderful idea, Claire. Emm would jump at the chance. He's been working on some new creations; he'd love to test them out on the family."

"Oh, Debbie, I hope he's not planning to do that shrimp dip thing. It's too hot out. It might become fatal."

"No, no, I didn't like that one either. He was thinking more along the lines of fruit salads and hummus."

"I love hummus." Justin sat back and listened to Claire and Debbie go on and on about the menu, what they were each going to bring, the decorations and how big all the children have gotten. They seemed to have forgotten that Justin was there.

"Justin? Justin, sweetie, are you there?" Debbie's voice broke through his thoughts.

"Um, yeah, Deb, I'm here."

"So how do you like our plan?"

"Sounds okay to me but..."

"Fan-fucking-tastic! We'll see you Friday the 4th at ten in the morning!"

"But..."

"Wonderful, see you then, Debbie. I'll speak with you later tonight."

"Okay, Claire! Bye, honey."

"Goodbye, Debbie. Bye, Justin."

"Bye, Sunshine."

"Bye, I think." Justin cut the connection with the two ladies then sat back in Brian's big leather chair.

"FUCK! What have I done?!"