Chapter 40 - Progress.
After the big CK launch it was back to work as usual for Brian. Well, sort of. As Brian approached the eighth month of his pregnancy, things started going a bit . . . wonky.
Stitch's best work was still hiding 'The Bump' but it was impossible to ignore that Brian was looking a bit chunky these days. Due to Justin's strenuous and steadfast application of carbohydrates, Brian had put on a total of twenty-five pounds. For the usually svelte Stud, this was a dramatic change. And not only was he much heavier than he'd ever been before, but the weight was disproportionately distributed in the front. To compensate, Brian found himself leaning back more than was comfortable. This equated to complications like backaches and - yes, horrible as it might sound - a waddling gait. Although, Justin hadn't yet told him about the waddling . . .
Justin was trying everything in his power to help Brian through these last few months. He regularly laved 'The Belly' with vitamin E lotion and volunteered hours of complimentary back massages. He also wholeheartedly provided whatever sexual services were required of him, no matter what time of the day or night his assistance was requested. But, despite all the attention, Brian was still decidedly grumpy.
Brian's sour mood wasn't helped much by the online 'childbirth education' classes that Justin and Daphne were administering.
Considering that Brian's reaction to the information at the last Doctor's appointment was so overwhelmingly negative, they decided that he would need more than the average amount of time to adjust to the realities of Delivery. So, they'd started an intensive educational program. This wasn't done entirely with Brian's approval, though.
Brian had refused, point blank, to attend childbirth classes in person. He said he wouldn't be caught dead lying on the floor of some elementary school gym with a bunch of breeder couples all ogling him with displeasure. So, Daphne had researched and recommended some online classes that he could take a little bit at a time. After Justin begged him relentlessly for several days, Brian finally consented to watch the class lectures.
The class was oriented towards people who knew they were going to be having C-Sections, but still dealt with many of the same issues that any pregnancy would deal with. Of course, the class wasn't based on a male pregnancy, but most of it still applied. Daphne came over to the loft nightly, for emotional support, while Justin fed Brian the content a little bit each evening. Even so, it was a traumatic experience.
They decided to start Brian off with something they thought he could handle - the part about the drugs. Unfortunately, there was a little introduction to the information on the different anesthesias that talked about what labor pains would feel like. Brian was not excited about the whole idea of contractions or labor in general. This was almost a deal breaker for him. By the time the video got into the different types of pain relief that would be provided - spinal anesthetics and epidurals - which sounded almost as bad as the contractions themselves, Brian was ready to bolt.
Figuring they'd jumped the gun a little, the next night Justin and Daphne backtracked to the introductory material. Unfortunately this was no better. Brian objected strenuously to the whole idea of having a catheter inserted up his dick for the surgery and really didn't care for the idea of having his genitals shaved either. When Daphne added pertinent information about male pregnancies, like the fact that his dick and scrotum would be taped down during the surgery to ensure the surgical area was unobstructed, Brian almost bolted. However, when Justin patiently explained that the alternative was having certain of his favorite body parts unintentionally sliced off, Brian's objections died out quickly.
Considering Brian's reaction to these relatively minor issues, the teaching team decided to switch gears entirely and go with the whole 'shock and awe' approach on the third night. Accordingly, they sat Brian down in front of the computer and physically held him in place through the whole, incredibly graphic, C-Section Birthing video. Halfway through the presentation, Justin was worried that Brian was going into shock. Even Daphne was feeling a bit nauseous by the end, what with the copious amounts of blood and gore being shown. It was like a really graphic slasher movie gone bad. Nobody was in the mood for dinner that night.
After that, the rest of the online classes were a breeze - even the post-surgical suturing video and the information on follow up care seemed minor in comparison. Justin pretended not to notice when he caught Brian surreptitiously re-watching the birthing video several additional times, the squeamish look on his handsome face a dead giveaway about exactly what Brian was watching. Brian usually wanted to sit quietly and be held by Justin after these viewings - although he never openly admitted to the cuddly nature of these times - he just needed to be held through the traumatic aftermath of each re-watching.
Overall, both Justin and Daphne were glad they'd started the educational process early enough that Brian would be completely prepared long in advance. But, it didn't make Brian any easier to live with. Everyone was grateful for any distractions that came along to divert the grouchy soon-to-be-dad's attention from the woes of his expanding waistline, backaches and fears about the delivery.
The morning of the last fitting with Stitch right before the big Armani photo shoot, Brian was in a particularly foul mood. He was nervous about the photo session, but of course wouldn't admit that was the cause for his temper. Instead, Brian spent all of breakfast silently brooding, snarling at anything Justin said to try to lighten the mood and shooting an occasional dirty look at the annoyingly happy blond.
Neither of them had slept well the past couple nights - Brian was getting to that stage when his expanding belly made it almost impossible to find a comfortable position to sleep in - which meant they both had shorter than usual fuses. When Brian complained that the scrambled eggs were too runny and then refused to eat anything, even the normally easy-going Justin was ready to scream. In his own mind, Justin was already secretly counting down the days to Brian's expected delivery date and seriously doubting he could remain positive and supportive that much longer.
"Come on, Brian. Today's a big day. Please just eat a little something," Justin said as he tried to push the plate of eggs back in Brian's direction.
"I'm not eating that shit!" Brian insisted and pushed the plate away so hard that it slid off the top of the kitchen island and crashed to the floor, breaking in hundreds of pieces and strewing the food everywhere. "Now look what you fucking made me do!"
"What I MADE you do?" Justin shouted back incredulously.
"Yes! You're always fucking shoving food at me! I'm not going to starve myself or the baby if I miss one god damned meal! Just fucking leave me alone for once, Justin. I don't need a fucking Babysitter!" Brian demanded, throwing his glass of juice down onto the floor to keep the broken plate company.
"Fuck you Brian. I didn't MAKE you do anything. I'm just trying to fucking help. You know you need to eat. And, if you truly don't need a fucking babysitter, then what do you need? Why the fuck do you keep fighting me about this? It's like trying to get a damned two-year old to eat his vegetables, for fuck's sake. I don't exactly enjoy being your babysitter, either! So, just grow the hell up already and eat your fucking breakfast without sulking like a baby!"
Justin grabbed his jacket off the wall hook and continued to let all his pent up frustrations pour out unchecked. "And while we're defining roles, here, let's just get this clear. It's true I'm not your babysitter. But, I'm also not your cook, your maid or your employee and I'm certainly NOT your little wife! You don't get to order me around all day, demanding that I cook and clean for you, catering to Lord Kinney's every whim, and then expect me to just show up in your bed every night to accommodate your every sexual wish too. I'm here because I want to be - I WANT to help you and be with you and share all this. But I won't be a fucking doormat, either!"
Justin threw a towel at Brian who was standing there looking shocked that little Justin would dare say such things to him. "Now, fucking clean up the mess you made while I go out and get us something else to eat so that you don't pass out in the middle of the photo shoot, you asshole!"
The irate young blond stomped off to the door and jerked it open, still in a righteous huff, only to be greeted by an embarrassed looking Jennifer Taylor who had been just about to knock when she'd overheard the end of the argument.
"Well," Jennifer said, assuming a perfect WASPy smile and bustling in without waiting to be invited. "It looks like I got here just in time." She handed a paperboard drinks tray loaded with three steaming hot coffees and a bag from the local bakery to Justin. "Fresh croissants and coffee - decaf, which looks like a good idea since nobody here needs any caffeine."
Then Jen unhooked the shopping bag from her left arm and passed it to a still astounded Brian. "Welcome to your third trimester, Brian. I told you it would get fun, didn't I? That's a body pillow - it should help you sleep more comfortably." Brian accepted the present with a small, relieved nod.
"Now," Jennifer announced with a big, reassuring Taylor grin as she placed her briefcase on the kitchen counter. She pushed aside a shard of broken plate with the toe of her shoe as if it wasn't any big deal before continuing. "Who's ready to sign the papers to close on your new house?"
Thanks to Jennifer's timely intervention, there was no actual bloodshed at the loft that morning. The addition of a neutral third party let the boys get themselves and their tempers back under control. They were also pleasantly sidetracked by all the paperwork for the house, enough so that they tacitly agreed to forget their earlier argument.
Before long all the required paperwork was signed and sealed, soon to be sent off to the title company to be officially recorded. Jennifer was put in charge of getting the contractors started on finishing the place as fast as their little nail guns could shoot. Brian wrote out two hefty checks to go with the paperwork - one for the down payment on the house and a second one as an incentive payment to get the contractor moving. Brian considered it an excellent use of the big bonus he'd received from the Calvin Klein account.
There was only one surprise in the paperwork, at least for Justin - the youth wasn't prepared to see his name on the title to the new house. He objected strenuously at first. He wasn't some leech and he didn't want Brian's money. Justin hadn't moved back in with Brian just so that he could be a kept man. He agreed that the house was a good idea for Brian and the baby, and he did look forward to sharing the space with his little family, but he wanted to contribute to taking care of his baby, not be handed a fucking huge piece of real estate like Brian was his 'Sugar Daddy'.
It took a lot of explaining on Brian's part, backed up by what Jennifer knew of joint tenancy law, to convince Justin that this was mostly for estate planning purposes. If anything were to happen to Brian, he'd rather have the house going to Justin, so his baby's other parent would have a place to live with their son, than have the property go to his estate or, god forbid, Brian's relatives. Brian passed it all off as merely the best way to protect their child. Brian didn't mind that it also meant his blond would be protected too. And, the older man didn't mention that he'd just finished updating his Will so that, even if the property hadn't been in both their names, Justin would be getting the house anyway if something were to happen.
Justin finally conceded and signed all the papers. That was it. The house was theirs. They were going to be living in sin together, having lots and lots of gay sex, in a church! What would Brian think of next?
They luckily finished all the paperwork for the house in plenty of time to get Brian to Stitch's. The industrious tailor had been true to his word and managed to get Brian a beautiful, double-breasted, charcoal grey wool suit from the Armani fall line before it was available on the general market. He was so charged by the challenge of getting the suit fitted to Brian's unique form that he practically oozed enthusiasm. It took more than an hour to do the final fitting, but in the end, it was exquisite work. Both Brian and Stitch were elated with the results and energized to head over to the photographer’s studio.
The photographer that Brian had chosen was the same one he’d used on the CK shoot. Brian was convinced he was trustworthy. He’d had the legal department at work check the contract three times to make sure the guy could be trusted not to reveal anything before the Armani ads came out. Even so, it was a big deal to Brian to have to trust someone new. The guy was a genius with a camera though, and Brian demanded that he have the very best for this proposed campaign. As the camera started to flash and the poses progressed, both Brian and Justin were relieved and assured that this guy was the right one for the job. They even had him take a few extra, fun photos, of the two of them for their own personal collection after the rest of the poses were complete.
Brian didn’t even notice that, after he left, Justin cornered the photographer and paid him an extra hundred bucks to ensure that any photos of Brian would be airbrushed to make certain the stretch marks - the ones that Justin constantly assured Brian did NOT exist - were deleted from any images that might show Brian.
###################BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB#################