Chapter 32 - Midway.
In spite of all the drama in the night, Justin was awake bright and early the next morning and excited about his interview. Brian was not quite as chipper as his protégé, but then again he never was a morning person and he was having to function without caffeine these days which made it worse. Justin was pretty good at handling a morning Brian though, and they made it out of the loft in good time and without any major upsets.
Justin rather liked driving to work together like this. It felt very adult and coupley. Brian was grumbling something under his breath about 'can't even go to work by my fucking self . . .' Justin wisely shut up after that and the rest of the drive went by in silence.
At Ryder's, they kissed goodbye in the elevator before it stopped on the main floor of the agency. Justin got out and headed to the reception desk to check in while Brian rode up two more floors to his own office. Cynthia was already there, waiting for him to get off the elevator, ready with his calendar, a stack of messages and the presentation boards for his first meeting of the day.
Brian's job, luckily, hadn't been much affected by the media focus on his lover. He'd been 'out' at work from day one so there wasn't any shock value in seeing him with another man. Whether or not the blond boy on the news was pregnant and, if so, whether Kinney was the other father, was debated hotly around the water cooler and in the break room. But, other than that, the controversy hadn't seemed to bother anyone at the office. If anything, Brian was now treated like a minor celebrity of sorts - the guy who knew someone else who was famous. As far as the clients were concerned, either they hadn't made the connection or they apparently didn't care. The subject hadn't come up even once in any client meetings.
As far as Ryder was concerned, Kinney was still on a roll with his series of hot new campaigns. Brian's latest work was even better than before - his ideas were still edgy and current but he seemed better at intuiting what the client wanted. In fact, Ryder was so pleased with Brian's work that, in two weeks time when the second quarter profit distributions were made, Marty's top Exec should be pleased with the hefty bonus he'd be getting. And, as long as the money kept rolling in, Ryder didn't give a crap if Kinney had gotten some boy pregnant, no matter how weird the story was.
Which was why Kinney had been put in charge of today's critical new client presentation for Calvin Klein. For the first time ever, the Ryder Agency had a shot at winning a major clothing designer's marketing account. If they got this account, they'd have a toe in the door to all the biggest fashion design firms not only in the US but in Europe too. It was a very big deal and Ryder hoped Kinney was on the top of his game this morning.
Everything was already set up in the conference room when Ryder arrived with the Calvin Klein representatives in tow. Ryder introduced Kinney and then took a seat to watch the presentation along with everybody else. Brian looked his usual elegant self, wearing a new designer suit and his face practically glowing with his zeal for this new campaign. Even Ryder, as hetero as they come, had to admit that Kinney was an incredibly attractive man. Which was great for selling new campaigns to his clients.
Brian was definitely on top of his game this morning. He was charming. He smiled at the clients and entertained them with a few innocuous jokes. And then, when he started in on the presentation proper, he was all serious professional and immediately grabbed everyone's respect. it was going perfectly.
For most of the meeting, Brian was constantly moving. He'd jump up to point out a particular facet of the campaign strategy, then sit again so he could be face to face with the client when he was discussing details. He seemed to be bubbling over with energy and it added to the enthusiasm of the presentation. The clients ate it up. Both Ryder and Kinney knew they would be signing a new prize client before the end of the day.
Finally, at the end of the meeting, Brian went to jump up one last time to shake hands. He was already wearing a sexy smirk that was designed to draw in both the men and the women. Only, this time when Brian rose from his seat he felt a little dizzy and he quickly had to grab at the edge of the table to steady himself. His ultra-charming smile slipped off his face and he had to close his eyes to make the room stop spinning. He dropped back into his seat and leaned forward, resting his head against the edge of the table.
And that's when Brian felt it. All doubled over the way he was, his belly was tightly constricted. Apparently the other occupant of that belly didn't like being so squished and pushed back angrily. It was the barest little flutter of motion deep inside him, but Brian felt it clearly. He sat up immediately to give the baby some more room and smiled when the fluttering stopped.
"Brian? Brian! Can you hear me Brian? Are you okay?" Brian finally became aware that Ryder was hovering over him and shouting his name while the clients all stood around and whispered worriedly.
He held up his hand to stop Ryder from shouting, then took a deep breath and opened his eyes. "I'm fine Marty. Just a little light headed. I probably shouldn't have skipped breakfast this morning." Brian looked up at all the concerned faces and reapplied his charming Kinney smile, "sorry to frighten all of you. I'm quite all right." Brian chuckled deprecatingly and stood up again so everyone could see he was fine.
The clients were easily reassured. They all shook hands and then Ryder escorted them out the door, discussing the contract as they went. Brian let himself fall back into the deep leather seat of the conference chair and just sat there with an awestruck half-smile on his glowing face.
"Brian? What's wrong," Justin came barreling into the room, waves of concern radiating out from his body. "Cynthia grabbed me just as I was leaving my interview and told me you almost passed out in your meeting. What happened? Should I call the doctor?"
"Calm yourself, Dad. I'm fine," Brian said with a proud little smile. "I felt the baby kick!"
"You did? Awesome!" Justin said, momentarily reverting to his true age. "But why did Cynthia think you were about to pass out?"
"I didn't eat much this morning - someone was in too big a hurry to get here," Brian tried to explain, his own sense of wonder making him babble a little. "And then I was running all over during this presentation. I just got a little light headed. I'm sure it's nothing. I probably just need to eat. But then, when I got dizzy, I sat down and that's when I felt it. Junior didn't like the way I was leaning over. He was all wedged in and wanted more room, I guess, and I felt him kicking. Then, when I sat up again, it stopped. It was the weirdest feeling, Justin. It was just so . . . Weird. I have another little person inside me! It's so . . ." Brian Kinney, marketing whiz, ran out of words to explain his amazement.
"It's so fucking cool," the teenager agreed, equally at a loss for words.
They both sat there giggling at themselves and the wonder of it all for several moments.
Until . . .
*Ahem*
They were finally interrupted by Cynthia, who was standing in the open doorway wearing an impudent smile. She waved a little impishly. Brian groaned.
"So, I guess all the news reports WERE wrong," Cynthia declared. "Justin isn't pregnant. But, you, Brian . . . ?"
Brian looked up like a guilty child caught doing something naughty. He smiled mischievously with his lips folded in to partially mask his glee and shrugged. Justin sat next to him and beamed at Cynthia proudly.
"Fuck!" was all Cynthia said as she pulled out another chair and plopped down into the seat next to them.
Brian was the first one to come back to reality. "Alright. Enough. Sunshine, you run out and be a good Baby-Daddy and get me something to eat before I really DO pass out. Cynthia, we need to get legal to make a few changes to the Calvin Klein contracts. I want them faxed out before noon."
Brian stood up and strode out of the conference room as if nothing had happened. Cynthia smiled and squeezed Justin's shoulder affectionately, then got up to follow. Justin laughed again and then hopped up to go get Brian's food. And he still thought it was Awesome!
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The next morning, Justin got a call from Ryder's Art Director congratulating him. He'd been approved as a freelance artist and would be getting his first assignment the next week. Brian was late for work that day - he couldn't leave without giving Justin a good old-fashioned celebratory fuck as soon as they got the news.
The next day, Friday, was Brian's next doctor's appointment. At twenty weeks, he was now at the halfway point of the pregnancy. This was going to be a longer check up than usual so Brian took a half day off work and went home at lunchtime.
Since they'd already been 'found out', there was no need for subterfuge this month. Justin made the doctor's appointment under his name. Daphne didn't want to miss out on the fun though, so she talked Brian into letting her tag along again. They also decided to use the car service since it was just easier than driving. However, this time they just walked in through the front doors and waved to the reporters gathered outside.
Since this was such an important time in the pregnancy, there were a lot most tests. Brian had to give a urine sample and two blood samples. Chiefy advised that she would be testing Brian's blood sugar levels for possible signs of gestational diabetes, running a routine STD check and the all-important 'triple screen test' to screen for any possible chromosomal abnormalities. Then Brian was weighed, poked, prodded and measured.
Chiefy was very pleased with his weight gain this month: Brian had gained six pounds, which finally brought him up to within the normal weight range. Brian wasn’t sure if he should be proud at having attained the desired weight, or devastated by the fact that he'd gained almost fifteen pounds total - a staggering number by his calculations.
The Chief was a little concerned about how low Brian's blood pressure had dropped. It was only 80/40 this afternoon. While it was normal for someone who was pregnant to have lower blood pressure because of all the extra blood his body was generating to help with the baby's development, she cautioned him to let her know if he experienced more problems. This did explain the dizzy spell Brian had suffered at work the other day. Brian and Justin were glad to at least know what had caused the aberration and that it probably wasn't serious.
Chiefy measured Brian's belly to gauge fetal growth, which seemed to be just fine. She changed his prescription for his prenatal vitamins to a different formulation that included more magnesium, which she said would help prevent more leg cramps. Then she answered the million and two questions that the two Daddies had accumulated since their last visit, and they were done.
Brian smugly thought that he was getting quite good at the whole doctor visit thing. He hadn't even come close to any panic moments today. Maybe he could do this pregnancy schtick after all.
As they left the hospital, Brian guided their little group over to an area away from the doors where there were several planters full of blooming summer flowers. With this as the perfect backdrop, Brian summoned his reporters and officiously advised them all where to stand so that everyone had a good view. He waved for quiet.
"Thank you. Just to reassure you, everybody is doing just fine and we're all healthy. Other than that, we have no comment. But thanks for coming out and joining us on this beautiful summer afternoon!" Brian announced facetiously. Then the handsome big brunet scooped up the smaller blond, holding him cradled in his strong arms, and kissed Justin breathless. Cameras clicked away energetically for a couple minutes and then the satisfied reporters all started moving off so they could post their stories.
Only one or two people waited around to see the end of the boys' big kiss. When Brian had finally had enough, he flipped Justin back onto his feet, put one arm around his boy and the other around Daphne's shoulders and started to guide them off towards the waiting car. Once again, nobody noticed the one poorly dressed, overweight cameraman still snapping pictures of the three from the far edge of the sidewalk.
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