Part Twelve



The weeks and months that followed were interesting for both Brian and Justin. Justin had begun working on a new issue of Rage and Kinnetik was thriving. They were even nominated for several awards, including a Clio. The awards ceremony was being held in New York in March, so the pair decided to make a trip of it and planned on spending the week. Brian wanted to shop now that they were doing well enough to afford such a luxury. Justin wanted to see some of the museums and galleries. They left enough time for them to do both things.



Brian insisted that Justin bring his portfolio with them, so as they browsed through the various galleries, Justin met with some of the managers and showed some of his work. Much to Justin’s surprise, there were two who were interested in carrying a couple of his pieces on a trial basis. Brian promised that they would ship the pieces in question after they had their lawyer look over the contract.



The night of the awards, Brian presented Justin with a brand new custom tailored Armani tuxedo. Together, they were possibly the best looking couple in attendance. Just being nominated was a boost for their business, but when their names were called and they were presented the award, they both knew that Kinnetik was about to experience another major leap in their client listing. Companies would begin seeking them out, rather than the other way around.



They celebrated in their hotel suite that night with champagne and lots of sex.



Back on the home front, things were getting pretty busy as well. Jennifer made it her mission to plan the perfect wedding for the couple. She hired Emmett and Vic to plan and cater the event, but insisted that Brian and Justin be involved with every aspect of the decision making process. Two evenings in a row of wedding plans were more than enough for Brian, however. Once or twice, it looked like Brian was about to revolt, especially when they had spent nearly two hours discussing flowers, but he stuck it out and eventually, they came to an agreement. After that, Brian continued to give an opinion when asked, but he left most of the planning up to the two Taylors and Honeycutt. His excuse that Kinnetik was just too busy was actually a valid one, so everyone let him be.



The wedding date was set for the end of June, about a month before Melanie’s due date. The invitations to the relatively small affair were sent out at the beginning of April. It was just before Easter when the invitations arrived on various doorsteps. So when the family gathered for the holiday, it was the topic on everyone’s tongue.



At least it was until Melanie showed up at Debbie’s for dinner.



She had not been around the family much since her pregnancy began to show. And since she had decided against telling anyone before that, not a single soul, other than Ted, knew that she was expecting.



All talk of Brian and Justin died the moment she walked through the door. “What?”



“Um, Mel, you’ve put on some weight,” Emmett said carefully.



She laughed and rubbed her belly. “I guess I have.”



“I thought you decided against getting pregnant after Lindsay left?” Debbie said.



“No,” Mel said carefully. “I decided against using Michael as the donor. Sorry, Michael.”



Michael waved off her concern. He had come to terms that the person he was before was not one he would ever want to be again, and he couldn’t blame her for not wanting that man to be the father of her child. “It’s okay. I understand. Besides, Ben and I have Hunter. We’re good.”



Mel smiled at him, but she knew that Debbie probably wouldn’t be as forgiving.



“So, who did you use?” Debbie asked. “Tell me it wasn’t one of those sperm banks.”



“No, I used a friend,” Mel said slowly. “I asked Justin. He and Brian agreed to shared custody. Since we’re already sharing custody of Gus, it makes things pretty easy.”



There was silence in the room as that news sank in. Everyone could feel the tension mounting as Debbie got set to explode, but Michael was quick to intervene. “Ma. Don’t.”



“But Sweetie…”



“This doesn’t have anything to do with me or with you,” Michael said. “And I, for one, am happy for all of them.” He turned to Mel. “Congratulations.”



“Thanks,” Mel said with a smile.



Vic, attempting to change the subject to safer grounds, asked, “So where’s Gus?”



“With Brian and Justin at Jennifer’s,” Mel said. “He was with my family for Passover.”



“You really are sharing custody,” Emmett said with some awe. “Brian’s really that involved?”



“He is,” Mel said. “That’s part of the reason I bought my place in their building. It makes things easier for Gus. And when the new baby comes along, we’ll be close by to support each other.”



“I never thought I’d see the day that you and Brian would get along,” Emmett said. “Let alone voluntarily share custody of two children.”



Mel was quiet when she responded. “Without Lindsay there to confuse the issue, we actually get along really well. He’s changed and so have I. And Justin is a wonderful father to Gus and he will be to the new baby as well. Gus asked Justin at Christmas if he could call him Papa.”



“And Brian’s okay with that?” Debbie asked in amazement. It was one thing for her to find out that Brian and Justin were getting married, but that Brian was sharing his son with Justin… it seemed so unlikely.



“They apparently had a talk about it before Gus asked Justin,” Mel said. “According to Gus, Brian thought it was a great idea because Justin loves him. Which is true. So, how has everyone been? I’ve been so busy lately with a new case that I haven’t been around as much as I used to be.”



For the rest of dinner, they all caught up on each other’s lives, but there was still a cloud above all their heads and none of them could be sure when the storm would start.



BJBJBJBJBJ



“So what did you have planned for this evening’s entertainment?” Justin asked. Dan and Charlie had been put in charge of the bachelor party and the two were driving Brian and Justin through Pittsburgh to an unknown destination.



“Well, we decided that despite the fact that you two are about to become a staid married couple, that you might just enjoy a night on the town,” Charlie teased.



Dan chuckled. “Actually, we were given some very explicit directions about what was a proper send off for the Stud of Liberty Avenue and his partner, the former King of Babylon.”



Brian groaned. “Please don’t tell me you listened to the gang.”



“We are merely the emissaries on this mission,” Charlie said as he turned the car towards Liberty Avenue.



“You didn’t,” Justin sighed.



“We did,” Dan said with a smirk.



They pulled up to Babylon and there was a parking spot marked off for them. The usual line of patrons was missing, but they could hear the throb of the music even from outside. Brian took Justin’s hand and gave him a smirk.



“One last time?”



Justin smiled back and nodded. “We’ll fuck the night away. And after that, you’re all mine.”



“And you’re all mine,” Brian reminded him before capturing his lips in a heated kiss.



The foursome walked inside and the entire club seemed to stop momentarily before a loud chorus of “Congratulations!” rang out around them. Soon, Brian and Justin were being greeted by numerous men. Many of them were former tricks of one or both of the two men. Some were merely familiar faces from years of going to the same clubs and bars. All of them wanted the opportunity to wish them well.



Once the seemingly endless greetings were out of the way, the party really began. The normal go-go boys had been replaced with professional strippers. Brian and Justin were led up to the stage and seated in two ornate chairs to receive their lap dances. Once the pros were finished, however, Justin proceeded to give Brian a lap dance as well, much to the delight of their friends and well-wishers. For many, it brought back memories of the night Justin had won the King of Babylon contest. Unlike that evening, however, Brian cut the dance short and dragged Justin to the back room, to the cheers of all around them.



There were drinks and dances after that, and Brian and Justin both selected several tricks to fuck in celebration, always going to the back room together. Their eyes would meet and they would kiss each other as they fucked their chosen tricks in tandem.



After several hours of this, Brian and Justin emerged from the back room once again and found their friends by the bar.



“So, one last hoorah for the Stud,” Ted said with a smile.



“Maybe not the last,” Justin said with a smile at Brian.



Brian smirked back at him. “But definitely the end of an era.”



Everyone laughed at that.



Charlie held up his glass of Beam and said, “A toast. To the beginning of a new era.”



“Here, here,” the others all agreed.



“To Brian and Justin,” Ben said.



“And to a long and happy future for them,” Michael said. “No one deserves it more.”



Ben hugged Michael and Brian kissed Justin as the others all drank.



BJBJBJBJBJ



Brian and Justin went to Walters office the next day. “Are you sure that this is what you both want?”



“We’re positive,” Brian said.



“Alright then,” Walter said. “Let’s go over the various documents you’ll need to sign.”



For the next three hours, they reviewed and signed documents. They also examined their various financial holdings, though most of them had already been combined after the Stockwell incident. By lunch time, they were truly and properly tied to each other. Their domestic partnership was legalized and it would take a team of lawyers and a judge months to dissolve it.



“Well, I suppose congratulations are in order,” Walter said once the last document was notarized.



“We’re going out to lunch with Mother Taylor to celebrate,” Brian said. “We’d love if you would join us.”



Walter looked regretful. “I would love to, but I have a meeting in half an hour. I will definitely be at the wedding on Saturday, however.”



“We’ll look forward to seeing you there,” Justin said. “And we wanted to thank you for all that you’ve done for us this past year.”



Walter smiled at Justin. “I was just doing my job, but I’m glad that I was able to help you two. You deserve every happiness.”



“We intend to be very happy,” Brian said. “We’ll talk soon. I want to set up an educational trust for Gus and the new baby.”



BJBJBJBJBJ





Justin walked up the stairs to the nursery. Over the past few weeks he and Brian had worked to set it up for the new baby. They had found out that Mel was having a girl, so the room was filled with more feminine things than Gus’ room, which had a city theme with buildings, airplanes, cars and trucks painted on the blue walls. Brian had forbade Justin from turning the room into a pink wonderland, so he had gone with a soft mauve that faded upward into blue. The effect was that of the sky at sunrise. Over that, Justin had painted a garden mural with large flowers in every shape and color and plenty of grass and greenery. There were even butterflies flittering about through the air and hanging from a mobile hanging over the baby’s crib.



There was only a month left before Mel’s due date and they were all really excited about having a new baby join their weird little family. It was odd, but even Mel and Brian’s occasional snipes hadn’t been a problem. They had found a way to raise Gus together and they all knew that they would continue to make things work with this new child. As things stood right now, Gus alternated weeks between their homes. But with them all living so close, there was a lot of give and take to make things work with schedules. And even when Gus was staying with them, Mel often came down to spend time with him in the evenings.



They had heard from Lindsay only once since her departure from their lives and that was to request that Brian send her check a little early. She had never once asked about Gus or the family. Brian hadn’t asked her about her new life, either. There were only a couple more months and then Lindsay’s year would be up.



Justin knew that Brian had sent Lindsay an invitation to the wedding. They had talked about it and had discussed it with Mel as well. None of them expected her to show, but she had been Brian’s friend for a very long time and he felt like he should invite her. Justin suspected that Brian still hoped that Lindsay would come around for both his and Gus’ sake. Justin feared that if she did come it would only be to get more money from him.



“What are you doing up here?”



Justin turned to find Brian standing in the doorway and smiled. “Just picturing how this room will look when our little girl is in it.”



Brian snorted. “You’re such a sentimental twat.”



“I’m your sentimental twat,” Justin pointed out. “And I have the papers to prove it.”



Brian got a small smile on his face at that and walked over to put his arms around his partner. “You ready for tomorrow?”



“Not really,” Justin admitted. “How did our quiet little celebration turn into the event of the year?”



“Mother Taylor,” Brian snorted. “And a bevy of clients who wanted to celebrate with us.”



“Right,” Justin sighed.



“Just think, if we get through tomorrow, we’ll have two weeks alone,” Brian said. “Two weeks of fucking and sucking.”



“And museums,” Justin added.



Brian rolled his eyes. “Why did I let you convince me to go to Paris instead of a nice private resort in the Caribbean?”



“Because you want to shop?” Justin suggested.



Brian considered that. “Probably. Though Milan would have been a better option for that.”



“Maybe we can go there for vacation next year,” Justin suggested. “And maybe go to Rome as well.”



“Europe has too many museums,” Brian complained playfully.



“I’ll make it worth your while,” Justin promised suggestively.



Brian pulled him close, letting their bodies align perfectly. “You always do.”