1:05:18

"Behave yourself and then you can fuck them all, but wait until the checks clear!" Those were Brian's parting words of wisdom to Molly as he was about to get into his rental car and go back to the tanning salon. Justin was planning to pick up Bree at Susan's house. Brian's cell phone had other ideas.

"Hey Mikey, what's up?" Brian said into the phone.

"Bri, you better get over here and fast." Michael was practically screaming into the phone. Brian could barely hear him over the noises in the background.

"Mikey, what's going on?"

"It's Emmett, he's, he's throwing things. Apparently Mrs. Brenner called with a last minute change in the menu. Emm's going crazy. OW! Quit it, Emmett, I have to go back to work." Brian heard Emmett shouting a suggestion to Michael that not only sounded very painful but physically impossible to do with a comic book. Brian winced.

"I'll be right over," Brian sighed loudly as he shut his phone and started up the car. "Why me?" he asked the gods in the sky.

1:08:10

Bree sat on the sofa at Craig and Susan's apartment. She could hear her Gamma Susan clearing the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen after lunch. Susan had asked her to help and usually Bree would have. She always felt grown up when she could help carry the dishes and help load the dishwasher. But not today. Something was very wrong, and she wasn't sure exactly what was going on between Gamma and Gampa, but she definitely didn't like it. She hugged Muñequita against her chest and waited.

"There, that's all taken care of," Susan said as she came out of the kitchen. She saw Bree sitting quietly on the sofa. The little girl wasn't herself today. She usually was so full of energy and so happy. Today she was subdued. She hadn't even asked to bake cookies. "Bree, are you feeling all right?" Susan asked her.

Bree nodded but didn't say anything.

"Would you like to watch some TV?"

Bree shook her head.

"Is something wrong?"

Bree nodded.

"Tell me about it," Susan said sitting down.

Bree looked up into her step-grandmother's eyes, and with all the wisdom of a four year old, she asked, "What's wrong with you and Gampa?"

Susan blanched. She didn't think it had been that obvious. "We … we're just having a little disagreement."

Bree frowned. "Is that why Gampa won't come see me at the wedding?"

"Oh no, sweetheart, not at all."

"Then why won't he?"

"It's … very complicated."

"Me hate cop-a-clated."

"Me too, sweetheart."

"Is it cuz Gampa hates my Dada?" Bree asked suddenly.

"My goodness, where did you get such an idea?"

"Me know things."

"I guess you do."

"Me fix."

"What?" Susan asked trying to stifle a laugh. If anybody could fix this mess it would be Briana, but she knew this was way beyond the charms of the precocious four year old. Better and greater minds had not been able to fix things for many years.

"Me go talk to Gampa," Bree said with determination.

"I'm sorry, Bree, but Gampa is at work. He won't be happy if we visit him there."

Bree thought about that. She didn't want to make matters worse. Her Gampa seemed angry enough without her adding to it. "Then me make him a card. Tell him. You help me?"

Susan smiled. "Of course, I will." She was already planning some choice words of her own that she would deliver verbally when she gave Craig the card. "Let's go find some paper." She took Bree's hand and they went into the den.

1:13:29

Brian pulled up to the bistro. He noticed a crowd standing outside looking into the window.

"Thank God you're here!" Michael greeted Brian with a hug and a kiss.

"What the fuck is going on? And you'd make a fortune selling tickets," Brian snarked. It looked like half of Liberty Avenue was on the sidewalk. "I haven't seen this many fags on the street since Pride."

"Brian, you have to go in there and calm him down. He's wrecking the place," Michael pleaded.

"Shit, where's Drew when you need him?"

"He's off with the Ironmen. He'll be back later tonight and for the wedding. That is if there is a wedding." They heard a crash.

Sean ran out of the café. "There goes a tray of canapes. At this rate we'll have nothing left to feed everyone tomorrow." Sean gave Brian his best puppy dog look. Add that to Michael's, and Brian knew he was outnumbered.

"Oh fucking hell! First Molly, now Emmett. What else can go wrong? Please don't answer that." The crowd started giggling at Brian's dilemma. Brian shot them all a death glare. "Don't you people have places to be? Jeez-us." Brian ignored the laughter as he stormed into the melee. "WHOA!" Brian yelled as a blueberry muffin sailed past his head hitting the door. The crowd outside automatically ducked. "Maybe you should try out for the Ironmen. That's some arm you got there, Emmett."

"Don't you start with me, Kinney. I have had just about enough." Brian could see that Emmett had about reached the breaking point.

"I'm not here to start anything," Brian remarked casually as he carefully made his way through the mess toward the counter and closer to the war zone. He picked up a buttery soft popover and took a small bite. "Fuck! This is good." Brian took another bite, ignoring the mess that surrounded him and the extra carbs.

"Of course it's good. I made them," Emmett stated matter-of-factly. "Did you expect it to taste any different?"

Brian could see some of the fight leeching away from his tall friend. "No, I've always appreciated your culinary talents but, um..."

"What?" Emmett glared at Brian daring him to disparage his popover.

"Coffee?" Brian said with a little shrug of his broad shoulders as he took another bite, savoring the flavor.

"Sure!" Emmett said with a smile. He rounded the counter to his row of pots. "I recommend the Columbian roast. It goes well with the buttery flavor of the popover." Brian nodded as he quickly wiped off a stool that got dusted with flying powdered sugar. He sat down.

Emmett poured a large mug of coffee and added the sugar for Brian. He wiped off some counter space to place the mug in front of his friend.

"Mmm, oh yeah," Brian purred contentedly. "Almost better than sex. I want a pound of that coffee and a dozen of these popovers to take back to the cottage with me."

"Really? You like them that much?"

"Would I be sitting here in the middle of a disaster zone eating them if I didn't?" Brian proved his point by selecting another one and taking a big bite.

"Wow!" Emmett stood with his mouth agape staring at Brian.

"You want to tell me about it?" Brian asked nonchalantly as he cocked his head toward the mess.

"That Sharon Brenner! I don't care how much money she has; she just can't call me less than twenty-hours before the main event and start changing the menu on me," Emmett said with exasperation.

"So don't do it," Brian mumbled around his coffee mug.

"Huh?"

"Let me ask you something. Who's paying for this shindig?" Brian was licking the crumbs off his fingers trying to resist the urge for another popover.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, Jennifer and Molly and Owen. Molly and Owen really wanted to pay for the whole thing by themselves but the Taylors wouldn't hear of it. They wanted the happy couple to save their money so they could put a down payment on a house."

"So I repeat, don't do it. She's not the one who hired you, so she has no say in the matter. Problem solved."

"But she..."

Brian stood to look Emmett straight in the eye. "Problem solved," Brian said with conviction.

"Problem solved," Emmett echoed Brian then smiled. "Yeah, she has no say and Molly loves my choices."

"There ya go. Can I get some of these to go, with some coffee too?" Brian looked at his watch. He still had plenty of time before the rehearsal dinner to work on his tan.

"Sure, honey," Emmett said sweetly. The crisis was over. He fixed a to-go cup of coffee and threw the whole tray of popovers into a large bag for Brian. Emmett stopped Brian as he went for his wallet.

"On the house. I'll see you later," Emmett said with a toothy grin. Brian nodded then gingerly walked through the mess and out the door. Sean immediately went back into the bistro to start the clean up.

"So?" Michael asked Brian.

"Problem solved," Brian said smugly as he gave Michael a chaste kiss then handed him a popover. Michael watched Brian get back into his car with awe.


1:42:21

"Done," Bree said as she put her last bit of coloring on the folded paper that was her card to Craig. "Read it for me," she asked her grandmother.

"Okay, sweetheart." Susan began reading what Bree had told her to write. If this didn't wake up her idiot husband then nothing would.

"Good," Bree said when Susan finished. "Take it to Gampa now?"

"No, Bree, I think it can wait until later tonight. I know just when to give it to him."

"'Kay."

"How be you have a little nap before your daddy comes to pick you up?"

"'Kay," Bree agreed with a yawn. She climbed up onto the sofa in the den and laid down with Muñequita clutched to her chest.

Susan laid the afghan over the two and closed the door as she went back into the living room. She still held Bree's card in her hand. She wondered if Craig would finally get the message when he saw this card.