Part Five

Brian stormed into the house in mid March and slammed the door behind him. Justin was in the kitchen making dinner and looked up at him inquiringly. Brian just huffed and went up the stairs to change his clothes. He'd had a shit day.

It had started with Max screaming his head off at 5:30 in the morning and refusing to go back to sleep. From there, it had proceeded to go down hill. His art department had screwed up the boards for his presentation and he'd had to run roughshod over them to get them corrected before his afternoon meeting. The afternoon meeting had been a disaster. Nothing that he had given them was right or good enough. It had ended without a contract and the woman had no intentions of giving them another shot. And if all of that wasn't bad enough, he'd blown a tire on the way home and had to fix the flat in his Zegna suit in the rain.

A shower and dry clothes did nothing to make Brian feel any better. He headed back down the stairs and picked up Max, who was crying in his swing, before going over to Justin. "I need to get the fuck out of here tonight."

"That bad?" Justin asked with concern.

"Worse," Brian sighed.

"Want me to call Debbie or my mom to watch Max?" Justin asked.

Brian shook his head and kissed Justin's cheek. "No. I just… I need a night out alone. Is that okay?"

Justin smiled at him. "Sure. I want a day at the spa on Saturday in return. Daphne's in town and it would be nice to just be pampered for a few hours without having any responsibilities."

Brian smirked. "I'll keep Max Saturday so you can have your girls' day at the spa."

"Come and eat something before you go," Justin said. "I made grilled tuna and roasted some veggies in the oven."

They sat down and talk soon turned to their days. Brian complained about his art department and the client who could not be pleased. Justin talked about his meeting with his agent and about the latest painting he was working on.

"I had Cynthia call the landscaping company about the patio and swing set," Brian said. "The guy's going to stop in at 9 am on Saturday morning to talk about what we want, so you'll have to schedule your spa day to start after ten."

"Okay," Justin said. "You still want to put in a built in grill?"

"Yeah," Brian said. "I was thinking that we could ask about a hot tub, too. Maybe get something that will fit with the design rather than wait and deal with an ugly hot tub that just sits on the patio."

"That's going to jack the budget up," Justin said. "But I'd like that. Oh, yeah. I meant to tell you we have an appointment with Three Rivers Academy next week. I cleared it with Cynthia and she's got it on your calendar."

"Three Rivers Academy?" Brian asked. "Isn't that a school?"

"It is," Justin said. "It's a very prestigious private school with a waiting list two years long. We need to meet with them now if we want Max to be accepted in time to start preschool."

Brian shook his head in wonder. "And how much is this very prestigious private school going to cost us?"

"Less than your annual clothing budget," Justin said dryly. "We can afford it, Brian. And Max deserves the best."

"He's going to have to wear a uniform, isn't he?" Brian groaned.

Justin chuckled. "I survived. So will he. And so will you."

"Why there?" Brian asked.

"Because they aren't a religious school," Justin said. "They're rather progressive, actually. And there's a zero tolerance policy against bullying. On top of that, 2/3 of their students end up being accepted into Ivy League schools. Their academics are unmatched, and the extracurricular activities they offer vary from sports to arts to social awareness clubs."

"And they start with preschool?" Brian asked.

"Preschool through high school," Justin confirmed. "Max will start when he's three and keep going to the same school until he graduates."

Brian considered this for a few minutes. On the one hand, he had fond memories of his public school, and he didn't want his son to grow up thinking he was better than other kids who couldn't afford private school. Then again, Justin had come out of private school without that attitude and he was sure that Justin would make sure the Max did as well. And the open-mindedness and no-bullying was a real draw. Brian knew that Gus often had issues with classmates or parents of classmates who were not accepting of his same-sex parents.

"Yeah, okay," Brian sighed. "We'll go to the meeting and get our kid into this school."

Justin leaned over and kissed Brian deeply. "Thanks. Wake me up when you get home tonight. I'll show you how grateful I am."

Brian smirked. "I'm sure you will, Sunshine."

BJBJBJBJBJ

Michael found that all of the other guys in their little group of friends had been taken in by Brian and Justin and there was not a sympathetic ear in the bunch, so he went to Melanie and Lindsay for support. There he found that Lindsay, as usual, had been swayed to defend Brian, but he had an ally in Mel. She too viewed Brian and Justin's antics as irresponsible and reckless.

"How can they think that it's okay to go out and fuck everything that moves while their child is at home with a sitter?" Mel wondered over lunch. She and Michael had begun meeting away from the others to discuss what was going on and to try and come up with some way to intervene.

"Brian has actually started going out without Justin again," Michael informed her. "I wonder if that means that they're fighting again. They just don't have a stable enough relationship to be good parents. After Brian's childhood, you would think he would know better than to even try."

"But what can we do about it?" Mel wondered. "I mean, it isn't like we can force them to change their behavior."

"They shouldn't be parents," Michael said coldly. "I'll figure something out."

BJBJBJBJBJ

Justin was having a very bad day. The house was a mess from the contractors tromping in and out to use the bathroom, leaving a trail of muddy boot prints in their wake. Max was teething and had been crying on and off for the entire morning. Carlos was sick with the flu. And Brian was in Chicago for business. He hadn't gotten any work done all day and Justin hadn't slept well the night before without Brian there. And just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, the doorbell rang.

"Hello," Justin said to the frumpy woman on their doorstep over Max's crying. "Can I help you?"

"Are you Justin Taylor or Brian Kinney?" the woman asked with a small smile.

"I'm Justin Taylor," he told her.

"Mr. Taylor, my name is Jodi Fordham," she said. "I'm from the department of family services. I'm here to inform you and your partner that we are conducting an investigation of the fitness of yourself and Mr. Kinney as parents. Is Mr. Kinney home?"

Justin was in shock. They were being investigated? "Um, no. Brian's in Chicago on business. He'll be home tomorrow."

She nodded. "I'll want to sit down and talk to both of you in the coming days. May I come in?"

Justin nodded and let her in and then flushed when he realized the mess was still there. "I'm sorry about the mess. We're having some work done in the back garden and the crew keeps tracking mud everywhere when they come in to use the rest room."

She smiled as she took the seat Justin offered. He sat across from her and held Max tightly to him as the baby eventually cried himself to sleep. "Why… why would you investigate us? I mean, why us?"

"We received an anonymous tip alleging neglect and child endangerment," the Jodi said. "While I'm sure you and your partner will find this inconvenient, you must understand the need to follow up on any allegations of this sort."

Justin nodded. "What… what does an investigation entail? What are you looking for?"

"We just want to make sure that Max is receiving the care and attention he deserves," Jodi said kindly. "We'll conduct interviews with you and Brian and any other family members. We'll also talk with friends and colleagues. When it's all over, I'll sit down with you and Brian. If I think Max is in good hands, it will end there. If I think there is cause for concern, it will go before a judge, who will make the final decision what happens to Max."

"This can't be happening," Justin said in disbelief.

"I'm sorry," Jodi said. Justin thought that she might really mean it too. "Do you have a few minutes to talk now? I'd just like to get a handle on how your family works. Maybe take a tour of the house later. It's a beautiful home. Didn't it used to be a library?"

Justin nodded. "We renovated it and moved in just before Max was born. Just let me put Max down for a nap and I'll be happy to show you around and answer any questions you might have. Would you like to come up and see his room? I'd rather not disturb him later."

Jodi smiled and followed Justin up the stairs to Max's room. She looked around and made notes in her notebook while Justin changed Max's diaper and got him settled for his afternoon nap. A few minutes later, they left the room together, Justin carrying the monitor so he could hear when Max awoke.

"He's been teething," Justin said. "He's absolutely miserable."

"And when he's miserable, so are you," Jodi said knowingly.

"Yeah," Justin said. "You have kids?"

"Three," Jodi said. "I raised them mostly on my own. My ex is pretty useless. Why don't we talk while you show me around?"

And so Justin started showing her the upstairs and answered her questions as they went. At first the questions were mostly about the house and the renovations they had done. By the time they reached the back hall, however, the question got more serious.

"This is the nanny's apartment," Justin said as he indicated the door to Carlos' apartment. "He's got the flu right now, or I'd knock."

"That's fine," Jodi assured him. "I'll need to speak with him eventually, but it can wait until he's feeling better. I didn't realize you have a live in nanny."

"Is that a problem?" Justin asked with a frown.

"Not a problem," Jodi assured him. "Though there may be some concern since the report we received mentioned that Mr. Kinney was accused of sexual harassment in the past. Can you tell me a little bit about the nanny?"

"Well, Carlos is a student at PIFA," Justin said as he led her back towards his studio. "That's my alma mater. That was one of the reasons we hired him. He's bisexual, so he's a lot more comfortable with Brian and me than most of the women we interviewed. He's 26. He waited to start college until he was older because he was helping his mother raise his siblings. He's great with Max. Brian had a background check done before we hired him, so I'm sure he has more information if you need it."

"That would be helpful," Jodi said. She looked around the studio and was amazed at the work she saw. "Wow. You are very talented."

"Thanks," Justin said. He went over to the French doors and Jodi followed.

"What are they doing out there?" Jodi asked.

"Putting in a patio, a hot tub and a jungle gym for the kids," Justin said.

"Kids?" Jodi asked. "I thought it was just Max."

"Brian has a son, Gus," Justin explained. "He's being raised by his two moms along with his sister JR. But both of them come and spend the weekends here sometimes. Gus more than JR, but she comes about once a month. The first time we saw this place, Brian was already talking about putting in a swing set for them to play on."

Jodi nodded. "Tell me a little bit about how you and Brian met and about your relationship."

Justin sighed. "Would you like some tea? I'd rather get comfortable for this."

"That would be lovely," Jodi said.

Soon they were back in the living room, each with a cup of tea. "I never liked tea until I got pregnant. Now, I almost prefer it to coffee. Almost."

Jodi smiled. "Tell me about you and Brian."

Justin paused. "Well, we don't have what you might call a typical relationship. We never have. But what we have works for us."

"I see," Jodi said.

"I met Brian when I was 17," Justin said. "He was… the most beautiful man I had ever seen. I think I fell in love with him that first night. But Brian wasn't ready for a relationship or commitment."

Justin continued to tell her about their rocky beginnings and the time he left Brian for a more conventional relationship and how miserable he had been with Ethan, even before the fiddler cheated on him. "After that, I think we both realized that we were just right together. We've both put a lot of effort into making this thing work. We worked out what's right for us and it has worked for the last four years."

"You said that your relationship was different?"

"It's different because neither of us expect or want monogamy," Justin said. "We both enjoy sex, very much, and don't want or expect the other to be a monk. We like to go out dancing and when we do, we usually will pick up a trick or two. It's all completely consensual and completely harmless. We keep that part of our lives separate from Max. Even Gus, who is older, has no idea about that part of our lives. We're always safe, and we almost always participate in these activities together."

Jodi's eyes were wide, but she didn't look horrified. "Well, that is unusual. I suppose that extra-curricular activities like that might prompt some people to report you to our department. I can tell you that if that is the only basis for the complaint, then there is nothing to worry about. Our job is not to judge the private lives of parents, but to judge their fitness. Your sexual activity, as long as it truly is kept out of the view of your son, does not factor into our investigation."

Justin sighed with some relief. "You don't know how good that is to hear. We get flak, even from our closest friends, for the way we choose to live. I know that our relationship is unconventional, but isn't it better to be upfront and honest about our needs and desires than to lie and cheat and hurt each other?"

Jodi smiled ruefully. "I would have appreciated a little honesty from my ex, the cheating bastard. Though I can't say I would have been able to accept an open relationship like the one you two have."

"It's not completely open," Justin said. "We have rules and we are both very careful to follow them. It was breaking the rules and dishonesty that broke us up a few years ago, so we're very careful now. And we make a point to communicate, something that is very hard for Brian but he makes the effort because it's important.

"When I first found out I was pregnant," Justin said, "neither of us were sure how we were going to handle the change. But it's been good because we talk about the stuff that matters now. Sex is sex. What we have together is a lot more than just sex."

Max's cries came through the monitor and Justin gave Jodi an apologetic smile. She smiled in return. "Go take care of that sweet baby. I'll let myself out. And I'll be back tomorrow evening to talk with Brian after he returns."

Justin did as she suggested and saw to Max's needs, but as soon as Max was calm again and munching happily on a teething biscuit in his high chair, Justin picked up his cell phone to call Brian.