“Can I please use my phone?” Caleb asked, he may have said please but his tone was anything but polite.

“I don’t know. Can you please not have a monstrous tattoo on your body? No? Then no phone,” Justin growled out.

It had been a week from hell, but his life had felt like it had been on a rollercoaster since the beginning of summer. After Brian and Reece were injured, finding out about Caleb and his tattoo had been icing on the fucked-up cake. The boy was grounded until he was eighty…and that was with good behavior.

Kenyon had got back from his impromptu vacation and did what Kenyon always did, he forgave them. Justin had baked him his favored cake and told the other boys they weren’t allowed to have any. That seemed to make Kenyon a little happy…that and the two-thousand dollars he won in Atlantic City. Brian insisted it was beginners’ luck.

Justin decided after all the bad that they had over the summer they would have an End of Summer party. Brian asked if that meant a way to have a Labor Day party. Justin told him to shut his mouth and it wasn’t on Labor Day so there.

Sadly, Anna and Sayeed weren’t able to fly in. But Jenny was still in town after her trip to Atlantic City. The next day almost everyone was flying to coop. Michael was going into treatment, he’d finally been released from the hospital and was staying with them until he left. Justin thought Michael seemed different this time, he hoped that meant he really would sober up.

Kenyon and Maurice were flying out tomorrow to get everything settled before their schools started. Justin was pretty sure this would be the last he saw of Matt and Shorty until Matt needed something. Reece was still hurt from being yelled at by Brian’s alter, Rage.

Reece was expected to make a full recovery, Matt and Shorty had been staying with him in his loft since being released. Brian was already on the mend, and annoying the hell out of Justin. He bitched about everything. Mostly, because he was supposed to take it easy, something that was not in Brian Kinney’s vocabulary. Justin was considering which would cause more problems divorce or murder.

Most of Brian’s problem stemmed from Reece telling him to speak on Tim’s behalf. He said that Tim hadn’t planned any of it and just flipped out. Justin decided it was best for his own sanity to stay out of all of that. He had no love lost for the man that slept with his husband. But besides that, everyone had their breaking point. He knew that better than anyone. Having shoved a gun in Chris Hobbs mouth all those years ago. What he didn’t care for was the apparent soft spot his son had for the man that held him hostage.

Justin had more on his mind than Reece and his fondness of a criminal though. He had found out that an officer kicked Reece in the head on purpose while his buddies beat Tim. It turned out the Lieutenant that Reece was sort of dating, had been having a long-standing affair with the officer that attacked Reece. The other officers just took their adrenaline out on the hostage taker. Justin had found out this from the detective that helped him with taking Cody down. The man had felt it right to tell him what he knew.

When Justin told Reece, he was understandably upset. It seemed just as he was about to trust someone fully, then he found out the guy wasn’t being truthful with him. He had said that if Julian wanted to continue to see others, all he had to be was honest. It hurt Justin because he knew Reece was so much like him, and it had killed him a little each day to be in that kind of relationship. There was no way he wanted it for Reece. Hell, when he told Brian, his husband became livid. Shows how people change with age.

“It’s not fair. It’s just a little tattoo,” Caleb bitched, bringing him back to the present.

“A little tattoo? It’s a fucking eyesore. Thug Lite, why would you even put that on your skin?”

“Thug Life, Dad. It says Thug Life.”

Justin rolled his eyes. Over the years he had stubborn kid after stubborn kid. The only one who gave him almost no trouble was Kenyan. Matt was the worst followed closely by Anna, Gus and his punk phase was a close third. Reece and Devon were at an almost tie with forth and fifth. Sixth was Maurice, who gave them next to no trouble. He had a feeling Caleb would beat out Matt for the number one slot. He hoped Sean and Avery wouldn’t break the top five.

“You’re lucky your father is still recovering. If he wasn’t I think you’d have more to worry about than no phone.”

“Pop was young once. I know it was ions ago and he can’t remember but I’ve heard some of the stories about him.”

Justin opened his mouth to respond but was beaten to the punch.

“Well, I guess I’ll go get my walker and head down to the senior center to play shuffleboard,” Brian bitterly said.

“I want my phone back,” Caleb demanded.

Justin’s eyes bulged at the audacity of the teen. He’d never heard him be so disrespectful to either of them. Looking over at Brian he could practically see the steam billowing from his ears.

“Go to your room,” Justin ordered.

Caleb smirked. “Make me, Justin,” he said looking between Brian and Justin, his tone challenging.

Brian in a move that shocked Justin turned his back and went upstairs. He had expected his husband to lose his shit at the remark but instead he just walked away.

“You’re right. I can’t make you,” Justin said to his fifteen-year-old son.

The boy looked very smug with himself. Sadly, for him, it wasn’t Justin’s first rodeo.

“Thought so,” the boy said gleefully.

Justin left the boy standing where he was and went upstairs. Brian was sitting on the bed, looking drained. Walking over to him, he sat beside him and put his arm around him.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m tired, Justin. I’m so damn tired. After this summer and everything, I just don’t know what to do. I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

Justin’s heart started to pound in his chest. “Do what?”

“I don’t think I can handle this right now. Downstairs just now, I seriously contemplated hitting him. I feel Jack inside me, fighting to get out. I swore my children would never be scared of me but right now, we’re doormats to them.”

Not true at all, but he wasn’t going to see reason right now.

“How about this, you go with Michael to California and get him settled in at the rehab center. You take your time, maybe get some sun yourself.”

Justin knew right away Brian wanted that. The man was at his breaking point, his eyes screamed for a break. Everything had just become too much for him. Brian was the strongest man he knew but he was human, things were just piling on with no sign of stopping.

“I can’t leave you with all this.”

“Yes, you can and will. All our kids are safe and sound right now, and tomorrow half will go back to school. Ted and Cynthia can take care of work. That’ll just leave me with Caleb, Sean and Avery. You need this, and it’ll just be for a week or so. Right?”

“Right. You really are okay with taking the brunt of this?”

Justin smiled weakly. “Of course.” He hoped he could deliver that promise.

The party went off without a hitch. And everyone had left for their four corners of the US. Brian and Michael had been the last to go. Justin had decided to let the party happen and Brian leave before he dealt with Caleb. He didn’t want anymore trouble for his husband, and he didn’t want to deal with Caleb while he was mad.

A long time ago he had realized that he wasn’t a conventual parent. Tonight, his third youngest would learn that too.

Without telling Caleb, he had Emmett take Sean and Avery home with him. Leaving just Justin and his wayward son. Caleb had been watching a movie in the entertainment room while Justin did some cleaning up. Once he heard his son in the main house he went out the back and locked up the barn that housed the entertainment system with a deadbolt.

After doing that, he decided to go to his office and wait for the fireworks. It wasn’t long in coming.

“Dad, what the hell?” Caleb yelled slamming Justin’s office door open.

Calmly, Justin looked up. “Can I help you?”

“Where are my things?”

“Things?”

“My game system. My TV. My movies. My games. My iPod. My iPad. My EVERYTHING.”

“Oh, those. I locked them up.”

“WHAT? You can’t.”

“Oh, I can and did. This is you’re only out. Take your punishment, wait until your time is up, and treat me and your father with respect.”

“Or?”

“Or start a war you have no chance of winning.”

Justin did his best glare, it had worked on all of his children except Matt…and only then because he never used it on Matt. Justin would be damned if he put up with six years of what he had with Matt again with Caleb. It was time to show him who was boss.

He could see his son’s mind playing over his options.

“Fine, I’m sorry,” his son huffed. It wasn’t the apology he wanted but it was probably as good as he would get right now.

“Grounded for one week for the attitude and the rest of it is up to you.”

“Meaning?”

“Six months, no friends or going out if you don’t get the tattoo removed. One more month if you do.”

“Whatever. It didn’t turn out the way I wanted anyway. But when I’m eighteen I’m getting another one.”

“When you’re eighteen, you can do whatever you want.”

“What ever happened to my body being my own.”

“It is, but let’s just say you’re leasing to own. No major changes without written permission.”

“So, six weeks lock down?”

“Six weeks. I’ll call around and find out about having it removed. Now, go to your room.”

“But there’s nothing there.”

“Read a book.”