“Hello?”

“Justin?  It’s April Randall, Riley’s mom.  I hope I’m not calling too late.

“Not at all,” he answered.  “We’ve just finished dinner.  What can I do for you?”

“I was wondering if you’d agree to letting Lily have a sleepover with Riley on Friday night.  I could take her to our house Friday afternoon after school. Then we could either bring her home or you could pick her up sometime on Saturday.”

Justin wasn’t sure he liked the idea.  As librarian, April was a trusted member of the school’s faculty. But Lily had never stayed overnight with anyone, except Jennifer.  She hadn’t even stayed at Debbie’s.  He knew she was growing up but he just didn’t know about a sleepover.  “I’m not sure,” he told her.  “I’d have to talk it over with my husband.  Can I let you know when I take Lily to school tomorrow morning?”

“Of course,” she answered.  “Take your time.  It’s only Monday, so there’s no hurry at all.  Look, you get back to your family time and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.  Be sure and say hello to Lily for me.”

“I will,”  Justin said.  “Good night.”

“Good night, Justin.”

He ended the call and flashed Lily a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.  “That was Miss April,” he told her.  “She said to tell you hello and that she’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“Miss April?  I like her!”  Lily said excitedly.  “She reads the best stories!  She uses voices and everything!”

“Hey!”  Brian laughed.  “I thought I was your favorite story reader.  That’s what you’ve always said!”  He put his hand over his heart in mock hurt, which only made his husband and daughter laugh.  “I get no sympathy,” he joked.

“Nope!” Lily and Justin both laughed.  “None!”

Later, after Brian read Lily her bedtime story and made sure she was asleep, he made his way to his and Justin’s bedroom. Finding his husband already lying in bed with a pensive look on his face, Brian peeled off his clothes and climbed between the sheets, snuggling closely.  “So, are you going to tell me what April said to upset you?”

“It’s silly,” Justin said with a sigh.

“If it upset you this much, it’s not silly.  I saw the look on your face when you were talking to her.  Something is wrong.”  He slowly ran his fingers through Justin’s long tresses, scratching his scalp.  It was a guilty pleasure of Brian’s that he enjoyed just as much as Justin did.

“She invited Lily for a sleepover with Riley,” he said.  “I told her I’d talk to you about it.”

“A sleepover?  At their house?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve talked to April more than I have.  What do you know about the family?”

Well, you know she’s the librarian at Lily’s school.  Her husband is a psychiatrist and he has an office at the mental health facility across from Allegheny General.  They even call him Doc.  I know she’s worked at the school for six years and everyone just raves about her.”

“I think they sound like good people from what you’re telling me.  But what do you think?  Should we let Lily go?”

Justin sighed.  “I don’t know.  The only person who’s ever kept her overnight is Mom.  What if she gets scared in a strange place and we’re not there?”

Brian squeezed him a little tighter, sensing that Justin needed the comfort.  “They live in the Pitts, don’t they?”

“Yeah, over near Bridgewood, I think.  Why?”

“Well, we could always stay at the loft Friday night.  That way if Lily needs us, we’d only be a few minutes away.  Hell, we might even make it to dinner at Deb's.  She's always bitching because we don't go, so we could surprise her for once.”

Justin relaxed slightly in Brian’s arms.  “I guess we could,” he agreed.  “I’m still not sure I like it, but I trust April.  She’s been at the school for several years, and all the kids seem to love her.  I guess we have to let Lily grow up sometime.”

“I just didn't think she'd grow up so quickly,” Brian said with an audible catch in his voice.

With thoughts of their daughter on their minds, the men held each other tightly, finally allowing sleep to take them.

~~~~~

With Brian working on a major ad campaign for an up and comping cosmetic company and Justin finishing up three paintings for his Christmas show in Chicago, the week flew by. Before they knew it, Brian and Justin were at Lily’s school saying goodbye to her on Friday morning.

“Now you be good and mind Miss April,” Justin said as he knelt in front of her.  “Remember your manners and call if you want to talk to me or Papa.”

“I will, Daddy.  I’ll be good. Promise.”. Lily looked at him with those big blue eyes, which made Justin want to lock her away and keep her five forever.  He knew he couldn’t but it didn’t stop the desire. So with a deep sigh, he hugged her one last time and stood up, letting Brian take his place.

“You packed Oscar, right?” Brian asked her, referring to the stuffed giraffe Emmett  gave her the day she was born.  It was her favorite and she refused to sleep without it.

“”Yes, Papa. Daddy put him in my bag this morning.  He's still sleeping.”  

“Ok, you have a great day at school and enjoy your sleepover with Riley.  We'll call you tonight  at bedtime.”  He grabbed her in a hug that would rival one of Debbie's, then stood up and turned to face the librarian.  “You take care of her,” he said in a tone  I that made it clear he was serious.

“Absolutely,” April promised.  “She'll be fine.”

They handed Lily's overnight bag to April with strict instructions to call them if there was any kind of problem. Each lost in their own thoughts, they lingered outside the school, clutching each other’s hands and watching their daughter until Lily walked into the school and was out of sight.  Only then did they finally turn and walk to their car.

After an extremely long day at Kinnetik, during which Brian constantly took his frustrations out on Ted and Cynthia, only to have Ted look at him with amusement and Cynthia snap right back at him, Justin picked him up, and they headed to Deb’s.  It had been a couple of months since they had made it to family dinner and she had been demanding that they make an appearance for a while.

It didn't take them long to reach Debbie's house and soon they were standing on her porch.  Justin reached out to ring the doorbell but before his finger touched the button, the door swung open.  “Brian!” Michael yelled, bouncing like an overexcited puppy and completely ignoring Justin. “I didn't know you were coming.  Come on in!  We’re just about to sit down for dinner.”

He grabbed Brian's hand and practically dragged him inside, nearly slamming the door in Justin's face.  “Look who's here!” He shouted to the rest of the family.

“Well it's about fucking time you decided to show your faces at a family dinner!” Debbie exclaimed before pulling Brian and then Justin into bone-crushing hugs.

Everyone wandered into the kitchen where the food was set out buffet style and helped themselves, then settled into chairs in the den.  Every chair, as well as a few spots on the floor were filled with family, just the way Debbie liked it.

“Wait a minute,” the redhead said after a few minutes of conversation.  “Where is my granddaughter?  Is she staying with Jennifer tonight?”

“No,” Justin told her, “she's at her friend Riley's house for her first sleepover.  We’ll pick her up tomorrow afternoon.”

“Don't ​you think she's a little young?” Lindsay asked.  “I mean, she's only five, and you don't really know these people, do you?”

“I’ve met her mother.  She’s the librarian at the school and has been for several years.  Everyone loves her and she’s great with Riley.” Justin answered, his hackles starting to rise.  Lindsay was constantly sticking her nose where it didn’t belong, either with his career or his and Brian’s relationship.

“But you don’t really know them, do you?  I just don’t think it’s very responsible to let your daughter go spend the night at the home of someone you don’t even know.  I mean, anything could happen!”

“Lindsay!” Brian growled.  He was in no mood to have the mother of his oldest child question his and Justin's parenting decisions.

“I agree with Lindsay,” Michael said imperiously.  “You don’t know anything about these people and she’s way too young to be staying with strangers!”

Justin had had more than enough.  He’d endured the interference of Brian’s two “best friends” on more than one occasion, and it always seemed like they wanted to dictate the way the Kinneys lived their lives.  If it didn’t meet with Michael and Lindsay’s approval, then they would push and push until they either got their way or made Brian miserable.  This time he was determined to stop it before it went too far.

“The way we raise our daughter is not up for debate!,” Justin shouted, his voice razor sharp and startling everyone.  “We never said anything when Gus was allowed to stay with strangers only a couple of weeks after you moved to Canada. For the record, he was about the same age as Lily is now.  And what about the time you left JR with Eli and Monty, Michael?  What exactly did you know about them when you had just moved into the neighborhood?”

“That’s none of your business!” Michael screamed.  “Besides, Eli and Monty are good people.  They’re well known in the community and we knew we could trust them!”

“That’s enough!” Brian’s patience had run out.  “We came tonight because we wanted to see our family.  We didn’t come here to be criticized or judged.”

“That’s not what we’re doing,” Lindsay simpered.  “I just feel that Lily is much too young to be staying with people you don’t know.  I realize that neither of you have much experience in parenting and that’s why I’m trying to help.”

Brian just stared at the woman, who had been one of his best friends since college.  He knew exactly what she was trying to do.  Every time she got into one of her moods, she accused Brian of not being there when Gus was a baby.  He’d traveled to Canada at least twice every month and Gus had stayed with Brian and Justin in Pittsburgh during the holidays and in the summer. But somehow, Lindsay still saw that as Brian never being there for his son.  Brian was sick of it!

“That’s it!  Justin, we’re leaving!”, he snarled.  They grabbed their jackets and headed toward the front door.  Finally, Debbie came out of her shocked state and realized what was happening. She glared at the two troublemakers before running to her surrogate sons.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, tears streaming down her cheeks.  “I don’t know what’s wrong with those two.  We all know you would never do anything to put that precious child in danger.”

“We know,” Justin said before grabbing her in a bear hug.  “We’ll call you in a day or two.”

She watched them walk toward their car and wondered how a night that had started so happy could have ended up so wrong.  With a sigh, she closed the door and walked back into the living room where the rest of her family was waiting.

~~~~~

Justin sighed as he ate a sandwich the next afternoon.  Brian had refused to eat anything and had barely said a word since they left Debbie’s the night before, reverting to his old habit of retreating into himself and putting his walls up when he was hurt or threatened.  Over the last several years, he’d gotten better about letting Justin in when he was upset. But last night had been different.  His number one fear was that he’d be a terrible parent, just like Jack and Joanie. And once again, Michael and Lindsay had used that fear against him.

Justin would never forgive them for that.

He finished cleaning up the kitchen and sighed as he looked at his sullen husband, sitting quietly on the sofa, staring at nothing.  “Brian, are you ready?” he asked.

Brian still didn’t say a word, just stood up and walked to the door, stopping at the kitchen counter to grab his wallet and keys.  Justin followed him out into the hall and waited for him to lock the door and set the alarm.  As they waited for the elevator, he gently grabbed Brian’s chin and forced the older man to look at him.

“Hey, she’s fine,”  He murmured.  “Ignore those two.  They obviously don’t know what they’re talking about.”

“Maybe they’re right,”  Brian answered, leaning into his husband and burying his face in Justin’s neck.  “I mean, she is young and we don’t know April very well, let alone her husband.  Maybe we shouldn’t have let Lily go.”

“Stop that!”  Justin growled.  “I’ve talked to April several times.  She’s a lovely person and she wouldn’t have the job she has if she wasn’t responsible.  You’ve seen Riley. She’s a very sweet little girl.  She had to learn that from her parents.  And also don’t forget, Lily is very mature for her age and she’s a great judge of character.  She will be fine.  Now let’s go get our princess.  I’m sure she’s wondering what’s taking us so long.”

Brian was still nervous as they waited on the front porch of the modest brick home a few minutes later.  Finally, he heard footsteps approaching and the door swung open.  He heard Justin gasp beside him mere seconds before he recognized the man standing in the doorway.  He was older, as were they and his hair had receded to the point that there was more bald space than covered scalp. But the eyes and facial features were still the same.  Brian instincts took over and he pulled Justin to safety behind him.  “What the hell are you doing here?” he growled loudly and viciously.  Standing with a shocked expression was someone neither of them had ever wanted to see again: Chris Hobbs.