Chapter 9

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Some time later as people had begun to filter out and head for home, George and Rachel approached Brian and Justin.

"Brian, Justin, I can't tell you what it means to us to have the opportunity to move our home, rather than just leaving it behind and finding something new. We love that house," Rachel explained.

Brian looked rather uncomfortable receiving the thanks, but Justin merely smiled.

"Let me add my thanks too," George said shaking each man's hand. "We never expected anything like this to happen. I know Rachel is looking forward to living close to her brother … and all of you."

"No problem," Brian mumbled looking more uncomfortable by the moment.

"The girls are thrilled too, and they'll be able to go to their old school. It just means a little driving on our part," Rachel said. "Most days they can go into Bridgeton when George goes to work.

"I'm glad it's all working out," Justin said with a smile. He squeezed Brian's arm.

"If there's ever anything we can do…" Rachel started to say.

"Your youngest is about the same age as JR, isn't she?" Brian asked.

"A year or two older," Rachel replied. "Why?"

"We're going to have JR staying here with us for the next week. It might be nice if the girls could get together once or twice. Patrick and Bree are a little young for JR and Gus is a little old."

"I think that could be arranged. I'll call you," Rachel said as they turned to leave.

"Thanks again," George said with a big smile.

"What made you think about that?" Justin asked Brian.

"I sort of feel sorry for JR. She's caught in the middle between her parents, and there's nobody else around her age. She can't do the stuff Gus does, and she is forced to play with the little ones. This might give her a chance to make some friends."

"You're a good guy, Brian Kinney," Justin said standing on his tiptoes to give his husband a sweet kiss.

"I know … and that's in the time I have left over from being the asshole of the century."

"Um … maybe you should make that the asshole of the millennium, after what you taught Bree to say."

Brian actually blushed. "I, honest to whatever god is out there, do not remember ever saying that," Brian said with all sincerity.

"You must say it quite often for Bree to have it so well memorized," Justin laughed.

"It's not fucking funny! I may have said that once or twice, but I never intended…"

"I know, Brian. I never intended to teach her to say shit, but that happened too. She's a smart little bundle, and we're going to have to be careful," Justin said running his fingers down Brian's face.

"Trying to console the asshole, Sunshine?" Debbie asked as she and Carl came up to say goodbye.

Brian glowered at her but didn't say anything.

"I wouldn't be too quick to judge," Carl jumped in.

"What?" Debbie demanded staring at her husband.

"Let's face it. Bree doesn't have the best role models for cultured language. We all have a tendency to swear. Brian shouldn't get all the blame."

Brian stared at Carl, amazed at what the man had just said. He could probably count on the fingers of one hand the times that someone had actually defended him … other than Justin, of course. He found that his voice wouldn't work around the enormous lump in his throat.

Carl took one look at Brian and said to Debbie. "Let's go, hon."

Debbie was staring at her husband like he had two heads. She seemed speechless too. She allowed Carl to hustle her towards the front door.

Brian squeezed Carl's shoulder as he went by, and Carl nodded in acknowledgement.

"You okay, Bri?" Justin asked.

Brian nodded and swallowed hard. He stared off into space. Justin was glad that no one else came up to say goodbye just then. He linked his fingers through Brian's and applied a gentle pressure just so Brian knew he was there.

Over in one corner of the sun porch Molly and Owen were having a somewhat heated discussion while Brian was trying to get control of his emotions.

"I wonder what's up with them," Justin observed after Brian seemed to have recovered. Brian shrugged. "I hope our gigantic family didn't scare the living bejesus out of poor old Owen," Justin laughed.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they did," Brian said softly. "Sometimes they're hard to take."

"Yeah," Justin had to agree.

"I'm going to go check on Bree," Brian said. "Go make sure the trouble in paradise doesn't escalate."

Justin watched Brian walk away knowing that Brian wanted some time by himself. Checking on Bree was his excuse to gain that time. Justin headed over towards his sister and her fiancé.

Brian gently opened the door to Bree's room. His little girl was sleeping soundly in her little white canopy bed that they had got for her a couple of months earlier. He looked around the room noting that Bree led the life of a little princess … with a foul mouth. And it was most likely his fault. He sat down on the edge of Bree's bed and gently ran his fingers through the soft blond locks.

"So much like your daddy," he whispered.

He continued stroking Bree's hair as he thought back to the bombshell she had dropped during the barbecue. He couldn't believe those words had come out of her sweet little mouth. She looked like such an angel sleeping here in her pristine bed. What had he done to her?

He wiped at his eyes hoping to prevent the tears that were there from running down his face. He resolved to use better language all the time, not just around Bree. He would make this up to her.

"Dad?"

Brian turned and saw Gus standing in the doorway. "What can I do for you, Sonny Boy?" Brian asked not liking the husky quality of his voice.

"Come over to my room so we can talk," Gus asked.

Brian nodded. He kissed Bree's cheek and then followed Gus across the hall to his bedroom. "What can I do for you?"

"Dad, I don't want you to feel bad about what Bree said today."

"What do you mean? Of course, I feel bad."

"But she didn't know what she was saying," Gus protested.

"That doesn't make it any better. I shouldn't have taught her that."

"Dad, I picked up some bad language from you too. How could I not?" Brian glared at his son. "But I also heard it from the moms and from Grandma Debbie, and practically everyone else."

"But I hardly ever hear you swear," Brian replied realizing that Gus rarely used profanity.

"That's right, because I choose not to. I have my moments when the language gets pretty graphic, but most of the time I don't see much use for it."

"I guess I never learned to discriminate like that."

"Sure you did, Pop. You don't use profanity at work, especially not with clients."

"You'll get to find that out for yourself when you start your internship," Brian said with a sad grin. He knew Gus was right. He rarely swore at work, unless it was to some hapless employee who had screwed up royally.

"I already know," Gus stated. "I don't need to find out anything. You wouldn't be where you are now if you didn't know how to conduct yourself properly."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

Brian beamed with pride at his son. "Thanks for that, Gus."

"You're welcome, but the point that I'm trying to make is that Bree will learn when it's appropriate to use those words and when it's not. You don't need to worry about it."

"Really?"

"I did," Gus said simply.

"Have I told you what a great kid you've turned out to be?" Brian pulled Gus into a warm hug. This was just what he needed.

"A time or two," Gus laughed. "Now that we've got that out of the way, I have something to ask you."

"Uh oh, here it comes," Brian smirked showing that things were almost back to normal. "How much is this going to cost me?"

"Why do you always ask me that?" Gus laughed again.

"Because it's usually pretty expensive."

"Not always," Gus grinned. "This as actually about JR."

"JR?"

"Yeah, she wanted me to ask you if she could sleep in the brass bed in the sun porch."

"Why didn't she ask me that herself?" Brian wanted to know.

"You're kind of intimidating."

"Moi!"

"You are, you know."

"But not to you."

"Not so much anymore."

Brian smiled. "Well, let's go see what we can do for the little lady." He slung his arm over Gus' shoulder and they went back out to join the remaining guests.

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"Owen, if this is going to be a problem, you better tell me now. They're Justin's family and mine. I won't leave anyone out," Molly demanded to know of Owen.

"And I don't expect you to. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"Molly, I'm not scared or prejudiced, it's that I've had very limited exposure to homosexuals. I'm sorry if my ignorance offends you," Owen tried to defend himself.

"It's not me who you're offending."

"And I'm not offending them either. I just don't have any experience in all of this. Molly, even in school, no one came out. They either kept it quiet or never let anyone know. There were one or two people my friends and I may have suspected but we didn't hang out with them. The first time I ever heard about gays was when your brother got bashed. You were about eight or nine, right?" Molly nodded.

"I wasn't much older. I asked my older sister what gay bashing meant and she didn't want to tell me. I asked my Mom and the only thing she told me is that a kid got beat up because he was friends with the wrong people. I was scared. What if my friends were the wrong people, was I going to get beat up too? Then in High School I was a loner. I was focused on school, sports and working with my dad. The next time the subject of homosexuality came up was when dad's company decided to use Kinnetik. I didn't meet Brian but I heard about his reputation. His business reputation, I mean. I checked out his background and learned about everything else, including about Justin. But that's it, Molly. Other than dinner with your brother and Brian, I've never met an openly gay person."

Owen was desperate to have Molly believe him. And Molly did. Brian Kinney and company were a tough lot to take if you didn't grow up with them like Molly had.

"I believe you and I'm sorry, Owen. I guess I should have prepared you better. Everything in my life changed the night my brother got hurt. My family was torn apart, I almost lost my brother and I lost my dad. I almost lost my Mom too. It was so hard on her; she didn't know how to help Justin. If it wasn't for Debbie and Brian, we would have been destroyed. They all helped in a way."

"Is that what you meant about Debbie being Justin's mother?"

"Yeah, she was Brian's too. For a long time, Brian's mother never accepted him. It's only now since Briana, that the two of them have reconciled. Owen, I love you so much but I love my brother. I'm so proud of what he's accomplished." Owen nodded. A Justin Taylor original was worth a small fortune. They hugged and became silent.

"Did you know that the doctors all thought Justin would never paint again? His brain was damaged from the bashing. He could barely hold a paint brush after, let alone paint something. If it wasn't for Brian, we'd never have those." Molly pointed at the canvasses at the other side of the porch. All beautiful representations and impressions of the masters, viewed from Justin's eyes.

"I understand, Mol, I really do. And I'd be very proud to have all of your family there, at our wedding." Owen and Molly kissed as Justin walked over to them.

"Get a room, you two. Eiw, het sex. Yuck," Justin giggled.

"Oh shut up, Jester. And get used to it. You'll be seeing a lot more of it." Molly and Owen laughed as Justin's eyes got wide.

"Brian! Save me from the straight people!" Justin yelled out as Brian came through the porch door with Gus.

"Your wish is my command, Sunshine!" Brian scooped up his partner and threw him over his shoulder. With Justin laughing as he pounded on Brian's ass, Brian issued his last orders for the night. "Now get out! This is a gay establishment. I will not have hetero sex sully this house. Out, we'll get together again soon. Owen, call me at the office on Monday; we should do lunch." With that, Brian marched away with his precious cargo toward their bedroom.

"I guess that's our cue to go. Goodnight everyone!" Molly called out. Scattered goodnights responded from whoever was left and leaving.

John and Bobby saw the rest of the guests out, locked up Edna's Treasures then went to bed.

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As Brian and Justin were preparing for bed, Justin couldn't help but ask about Brian's lunch invitation to Owen.

"Brian, what are you planning?"

"Nothing."

"Owen, call me at the office on Monday; we should do lunch," Justin quoted his spouse. "I repeat, what are you planning?"

"Nothing, Justin, I swear. I'll have Owen come to Kinnetik and show him around. Yes, we're a bunch of fags but we have a lot of straight people working there too. Schmidt's the straightest fag I know. Owen needs to learn that we're just people who love differently. He's a smart boy and he loves your sister; he'll learn. We just need to acclimate him slowly."

"You mean no more flaming queens in bright fuchsia chef hats?" Both Brian and Justin giggled out loud at that.

"He certainly knows how to make an impression. I thought Owen was going to shit his pants."

"Yeah, I know. Molly said he was practically drooling over Lindsay then he nearly had a heart attack when Mel shook his hand."

"See, that's what I mean. Bring Owen and Molly to the gallery. He can see the real Lindsay. But um, I think you should avoid the diner. Debbie should be taken in small doses." The lovers laughed out loud again then snuggled close.

"Thank you, Brian."

"For what, Sunshine?"

"For the whole day. For being a grilling fiend. For being the best partner in the whole world. For taking care of all of us. For..."

"Enough, Justin, my ego is big enough."

"Size queen."

"Your point?"

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The next day being Sunday everyone slept in a little later, including the children. Brian made one of his notorious breakfasts and a leisurely morning ended with everyone sitting around the table in the sun porch rubbing their bellies.

"That was great, Dad," Gus said with a satisfied sigh.

"I noticed that your hollow leg seemed to be more empty than usual," Brian smirked.

"You know I love your breakfasts."

"You're not the only one," Brian said looking knowingly at Justin.

"Hey, can I help it if you are such a good cook," Justin said with a big grin. He knew Brian couldn't argue with that.

"Good, Dada," Bree said from her perch in her chair.

"Very good," Patrick added rubbing his tummy.

"Yes, Uncle Brian, it was delicious," JR added feeling that she should say something since everyone else had. She felt kind of funny being at the cottage without her mothers.

She had laid in the big brass bed looking up at the stars until she finally fell asleep. Uncle Brian and Uncle Justin had been very kind about helping her get settled. They had made sure she had everything she needed and had set the screen to give her privacy. She couldn't understand why her mother rarely had anything nice to say about Uncle Brian. She knew that he was her father's best friend. Her dad had told her that many times, but her mother never seemed to like the man. She often said really nasty things about him.

"Thank you, JR," Brian said with a smile.

JR thought about why she was afraid of her Uncle Brian. Sure, he was big and intimidating, but it was more the way he stayed back and watched what was going on. She often did that herself. The adults never paid much attention to her. But then sometimes Uncle Brian would say something that would hurt somebody's feelings or criticize what they had done, and often not in a very nice way. She supposed that was why she was afraid. He seemed to be judging everyone, and she knew that she would never pass his judgment. He would surely say something nasty to her if she gave him the opportunity. That was why she tended to stay quiet … and invisible. It made life simpler.

But Uncle Brian had just smiled at her comment and he had said thank you. She had been quite surprised by that. Maybe he wasn't as bad as she thought. She ventured a quick look in his direction. He was smirking at her. She hated that. She never knew what it meant and it often led to something bad or scary happening. Even when other people laughed about whatever was going on, she could never be sure what they were laughing at, so again she tended to stay quiet.

And then she realized that Uncle Brian was staring right at her. He had noticed her. She braced herself for what he would say next.

"Did you like sleeping in the brass bed under the stars?" he asked her.

"Yes," she mumbled.

"JR told me she really liked it, Dad." Gus tried to help her.

JR knew she could count on Gus' support and Uncle Brian was his father so maybe he wouldn't pick on her.

"I'm glad you liked it," Brian said. "Would you like to sleep there for the rest of the time you're here?"

"Could I?" she asked shyly almost afraid to pose the question.

"Of course you can," Justin said easily.

JR glanced at her Uncle Justin but then looked back to Brian for verification. He winked and said, "That sounds like a plan. We won't have to change the sheets until you go back home."

Uncle Brian had winked at her. She couldn't quite get her breath. He had been so nice and he … he had winked at her. She felt the grin creep across her face. And she was going to get to sleep under the stars in the big brass bed for a whole week. She had never had anything so wonderful happen to her before.

"Okay troops," Uncle Brian was saying, "grab your plates and head for the kitchen. Once clean up is over, I think it's time for you young ones to test out that new play house."

JR picked up her plate and followed the others to the dishwasher. She had been kind of worried about being at the cottage for a whole week, but with Gus there to look out for her she had been willing to try it. She now began to believe that she might actually enjoy it. With a big smile she handed her breakfast plate to Uncle Brian who loaded it in the dishwasher. And he smiled right back at her.

She skipped back out to the sun porch and gathered up the syrup and butter they had had for their pancakes. The least she could do was to help clean up when Uncle Brian was being so nice to her.