Chapter 46 - Daddy’s Little Swimmers.

‘Diapers? I don’t need no stinkin’ diapers!’ Kevan thought as he once again pulled at the little sticky tab things that kept the annoying smelly thing wrapped around his bottom.

Kevan was on quite a roll that afternoon. He was high on life. It was all good though. He was feeling like the world was his baby oyster and he could do anything. And if he wanted to do it without a diaper on, then he would, and nobody would dare to stop him.

‘I’m Kevan the Great. I can do anything. I can move the world around me any way I choose. I can control big people things with only a smile. I can take off my own diapers. I can make happy faces, sad faces, all sorts of amazing noises and do wondrous magic tricks. People from all over flock to see me.’

‘Basically, I AM the center of the universe!’

‘Which is exactly as it should be. As it always will be, I hope. Because I really like my world this way. This is the way it is supposed to be.’

‘Now, what was that I heard The Daddy and The Papa saying? I thought I heard them saying something about ‘babies’. I know that word. That’s me. I’m the baby. I’m the only one they call ‘baby’. And they don’t need any other babies, since they have me. I’m Kevan the Great. The best baby ever.’

‘I’m the only baby anyone would ever need.’

‘Right?’

“This more what you were looking for?” Jennifer Taylor asked as Brian strolled around the empty expanse of the Orgy Room in the now-defunct Liberty Baths.

“Wow, Mother Taylor. You certainly have come out of your suburban housewife shell over the past year or so,” Brian offered a typically backhanded compliment to his sorta mother-in-law as he grinned at her.

“Yeah, well, getting to know you HAS been quite an education, Brian,” Jennifer slung back her own zinger, accompanied by a motherly smile that softened the blow just a bit and caused Brian to chuckle.

Brian spun around the large, open, tiled area looking at it from every angle. The white tiles that covered the floor and most of the walls were grungy and stained. There were rust stains on several of the walls where plumbing fixtures had leaked. Trash and debris had accumulated in the corners of the room. The brown, gunky-looking build up around the drain in the middle of the floor was disgusting. It would probably take a sandblaster to get all the dried come off the walls and floors. The place definitely looked a lot worse in the broad light of day than it had at night with the lights turned low.

Still, Brian felt a little nostalgic looking at the place like this. He remembered the very first time he’d ventured into the baths as a relatively naive nineteen-year-old. He’d been thrilled and scared in equal parts from the moment he walked through the door. And yet, he’d quickly felt at home in this place, despite the grunge and dirt. Maybe because of the grunge and dirt. And the men - lots and lots of sweaty, naked, horny men. Yeah, Brian definitely felt at home here. This place would be perfect for their new business.

“I think you have a winner here, Mother Taylor,” Brian walked over and laid an affectionate hand on the petite woman’s shoulder.

“Well, as soon as I saw the listing come up, it just screamed ‘Brian Kinney’ at me,” Jenn teased him.

“That makes sense, seeing as my name HAS been screamed out within these walls more times than I could shake a dick at,” Brian shot back, pleased to have finally raised a blush on the woman’s cheeks.

He didn’t think he needed to add that her own son was one of the many who’d called out his name right here on occasion. Or the fact that it was here, in this very room, that this whole segment of his life had started. It was here, a year and a half before, that Brian had watched his twinkie protege fucking the big muscle-bound gym bunny and had then been unable to get the urge to have a taste of that for himself out of his mind. In fact, if it hadn’t been for this very room, Brian wouldn’t now be the man he had become. Kevan wouldn’t even exist. So it really did make perfect sense that his life had now come full circle - back to this room - and he simply couldn’t pass up the chance to make the Baths his new corporate headquarters.

“It’s perfect. We’ll take it. Get the paperwork ready and find out how soon we can get cleaning and construction crews in here. I want to be moved in as soon as humanly possible,” Brian directed, rubbing his hands together gleefully as his mind spun through all the changes he wanted to make to the space. “Working from home just isn’t working anymore. We already have more work than the four of us can handle but I need more space before we can hire more help.”

“Got it, Brian. I’ll do my best.” Jenn confirmed and immediately click-clacked out of the room on her high-heeled Manolos, leaving Brian to his scheming.

An hour later, Brian said goodbye to Jennifer Taylor who was being sent off with instructions from Brian about hiring contractors and such. Brian felt like he’d accomplished a lot already that morning and thought he was feeling confident enough to even brave the Diner - a place he’d been avoiding ever since the almost-disaster of the Kinnetik Launch party. He quickly pulled out his phone, texted Justin a suggestion to join him and then headed out of the former Baths building.

It was a very warm, sunny May day, and Brian was already sweating in the lightweight jacket he’d thrown on earlier. He shrugged it off his shoulders and casually draped it over his left arm while he loosened his tie with his free hand. Since he didn’t have any other business meetings that day, he was looking forward to changing into something more comfortable as soon as he got through lunch.

Brian paused at the door to the Liberty Diner. He knew chances were likely that Mikey would be here at this time of day and he'd been dreading the inevitable confrontation. But he didn't plan on avoiding the Diner for the rest of his life, so he'd have to get this over with sooner or later. No time like the present, right? Heaving a big sigh, Brian gripped the door handle and pushed into the familiar eatery.

“Well, it’s about time you got your butt back here, asshole!” Brian was greeted with a jovial curse by his favorite pseudo-mother before he’d even completely crossed the threshold.

“You haven’t seen me for what, two weeks, and you’re giving me shit already, Deb? And you wonder why I don’t write, I don’t call . . .” Brian teased her back with his standard tongue-in-cheek grin as he made his way over to an empty stool at the counter.

“Yeah, well, two weeks is long enough for you to get into a pile of trouble on your own. You boys need a mother watching over you or who knows what shit you’ll end up in,” Debbie explained as she upturned a cup and filled it with coffee before Brian had even asked for it. “Now, sit that gorgeous butt down here and start talking, Mister. I need a complete update on my sweet Baby Kevan as well as these two new ones you’re working on. How are you feeling? You look pretty good, so I’m guessing no more morning sickness, right? . . .”

Brian would have let her run on for a bit more with a few dozen other questions but he was actually pretty hungry and wanted to get the kitchen started on his order before Deb lost complete control. So, shoving the coffee cup back across the counter at her, he held up a hand to stall the interrogation. Deb looked affronted that she was being interrupted, but did pause long enough to take a breath.

“Sorry, Deb, but Justin’s got me switched to decaf already,” Brian indicated the cup with a smirk. “And I’m fucking starving, so could you please put in my order for a tuna melt and cheese fries before you continue with the twenty questions. Thanks.”

“Oh, you poor thing. I BET you’re hungry - eating for three and all. I’ll get that order right in for you,” Grandma Debbie was sufficiently sidetracked and immediately replaced his coffee with decaf before heading off to take care of the food concerns for her boy.

While he was waiting, Brian heard the bell over the front door ring and automatically looked over to see who had arrived. Instead of one of the usual crowd of queers though, the figure that walked through the door - a little hesitantly - was a pudgy, middle-aged, straight man. Brian shook his head, wondering what the police detective was doing in this neck of the woods, and waved the man over to join him at the counter.

“Detective Horvath. Fancy meeting you here. Did you finally decide to take a walk on the wild side and see exactly what you’ve been missing all these years?” Brian snarked even while he offered his hand in greeting.

“Don’t you wish, Kinney,” Carl Horvath said with an equally snarky grin back. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, though. I’m only here to check out the lunch specials. I’ve been meaning to try this place for a while now and I was in the neighborhood, so . . .”

“Carl!” Debbie’s far-from-dulcet bellow when she walked out of the kitchen and saw the new customer seated next to Brian cut short the detective’s obviously thin excuse for this visit.

Brian, his kids and his health status were all quickly forgotten by the boisterous beldame whose entire attention seemed focused on the mild mannered detective from that point on. Brian looked on with affection and a touch of disbelief as Debbie and Carl chatted and lightly flirted. They seemed completely unaware of the stir they were causing with their unwarranted hetero display. Brian, along with several other Diner patrons, couldn’t help but stare at the spectacle.

“Ah, straight love . . . See, Brian - they’re not so different from the rest of us, are they?” Justin’s teasing tenor voice commented over Brian’s shoulder as the younger man leaned down to kiss his older lover’s cheek.

“Whatever. It’s just that I’m barely able to keep food down these days as it is. I really don’t need to see THAT!” Brian pretended to shudder before he spun around on the stool and enveloped Justin and Kevan in his arms. “Hey, Sonny Boy! I didn’t know you were joining us for lunch.” Brian kissed the baby’s forehead and then applied himself to the lips of his partner as well.

“Well, Emmett called me earlier and seemed to be having a trying day, so I swung home after class and picked up your son before heading over here,” Justin explained as he off-loaded the baby into his other father’s arms.

“MY son . . . that sounds ominous. You only ever call him MY son when he’s being a total shit. What have you done to your Auntie Em today, Sonny Boy?” Brian hoisted the baby into the air above his head, eliciting an eruption of sweet baby giggles, and then zoomed the boy over the heads of the other Diners until they reached an empty booth.

“It seems YOUR son has learned a new trick and was driving Em to distraction with it,” Justin picked up Brian’s coffee cup and followed his little family towards the booth. “Kevan has apparently figured out how to take off his own diaper and was crawling around the house naked, peeing all over the place this morning. Emmett said he tried everything - even dressing him in a pair of overalls - but your nudist child kept figuring out how to take off whatever pants Em tried to put on him. I’m not sure if he was trying to mark his territory, or just takes after his Daddy and enjoys the exhibitionism, but Em was about to lock him up in a dog kennel for the day if he didn’t stop peeing on the floors.”

Brian was beaming at his son with an amused and approving smile. “You really ARE my kid, aren’t you, Sonny Boy!”

“DON’T encourage him Brian. Or you’ll be the one following along behind him with the mop for the next few weeks until he moves on to some new trick,” Justin admonished as he pulled over the Diner’s one rickety old highchair and efficiently secured the baby in its seat. “Maybe we better start hoping the next two will be girls. Girls should be easier, don’t you think.” Justin dug out a baggie with some teething biscuits from the diaper bag and plunked a couple down on the baby’s tray to distract him.

“Girls? You want girls? But what about all the girly parts? I don’t know shit about dealing with girly parts, Justin,” Brian was scandalized by the very idea of girly parts.

Justin broke out laughing at the horrified look on his partner’s face. He was just about to tease him some more about the dreaded girly parts, when a shadow fell across Brian’s face and they both looked up to see the couple who’d just entered the Diner standing in the aisle next to their booth. The shadow appeared to belong to one Michael Novotny, who was waiting with a dogged look to catch their attention. Ben, who had been right behind his boyfriend as they came through the door, moved off and seated himself at the counter next to Carl. The two of them, along with Debbie, settled in, watching with morbid fascination to see what would happen next.

Brian and Michael both just continued to stare at one another for several long, uncomfortable minutes without either speaking. Finally, Michael shifted on his feet back and forth, and then looked down at his hands before sighing. Squaring his shoulders, the anxious man appeared to steel himself, then nodded.

“Hey, Brian. You look good,” Michael spoke up.

“Thanks. At least the fucking morning sickness has finally let up. Now I’m just pretty much starving all day,” Brian explained nonchalantly.

“That’s good. I remember how sick you were last time. At least it doesn’t seem that bad this time,” Michael was now shuffling his feet and looking more and more uneasy as the conversation continued without even touching on the meat of what they needed to discuss. “So, um, about the other night at your party . . . I’m sorry I acted like a total shit. Ma and Ben have both given me hell about it - especially because you had all your clients there. I know I probably shouldn’t have aired all that personal stuff.”

“No. You shouldn’t have,” Brian shot back, not really feeling very generous with his forgiveness yet.

“It’s just that I don’t get it, Brian. This just isn’t you. Or at least not the YOU I thought I always knew. I mean, you . . . you always said you didn’t want a relationship or a family or any of that. You made fun of guys who wanted that stuff. And I just don’t get it . . .”

“Mikey . . .” Brian didn’t really want to get into the same old argument all over again. If his friend couldn’t see that he’d changed, then what was the point? “We already talked about this. I’ve changed. I do want this. Can’t you just let me be happy about everything?”

Michael looked over his shoulder and Ben gave him an encouraging nod that seemed to energize the nervous, tongue-tied man. “Yeah. I can do that. I think. Well, I can try. It might take me a while to get my head around it though. I mean, Brian Kinney giving up his Stud status? That’s pretty huge.”

“Who said Brian wasn’t still a Stud?” Justin intervened in the conversation. “I’ve never seen anyone as sexy and fucking gorgeous as Brian and, at least as far as I’m concerned, he just keeps getting better and better.”

Justin’s words proved to be prophetic seeing as, just at that moment, a tall twenty-something with shaggy, shoulder-length, brown hair walked past the group, locking eyes with Brian as he passed, obviously cruising the now-grinning Stud. Justin kicked Brian in the shin under the table, but beamed a smile at him at the same time. Michael caught the interaction but just looked confused.

“Shit, Mikey. Just because I’m not going to fuck every guy I see doesn’t mean I’m dead. I can still look, right?” Brian teased with a wink across the table to placate the Terrible Twinkie Terror.

Kevan, who had been squirming in his highchair all this time, finally got fed up with the fact that nobody was paying him any attention and took this opportunity to throw the spoon he had been mouthing onto the middle of the adults’ table. “Gah! Dadadada!” the baby announced loudly, as if to demand that his daddies take notice of him. Brian and Justin looked at each other with that special connection that only partners have and, with another nod, they each held up one fist. “Rock. Paper. Scissors. Go!” they said in unison, ending with their hands displayed in front of them. Justin had chosen ‘scissors’, which unfortunately lost to Brian’s ‘rock’. With a defeated chuckle, the younger man slid out of the booth and then reached over to pluck the baby out of his chair.

“Fine. I’ll go change him. Wouldn’t want a Stud of your standing to have to soil his hands, now would we?” Justin couldn’t help kidding Brian just once more, but the little scrunch thing he did with his nose - a gesture that never ceased to bring the word ‘adorable’ to Brian’s mind no matter how many times he told himself he wasn’t a lesbian - made the teasing bearable.

Unfortunately, when Justin lifted the baby out of the highchair, both the pants and the diaper Kevan had been wearing were left behind. Instead, all the annoyed Papa got was a half-naked baby with his pudgy hand wrapped around his cute little pud. Everyone around - especially the proud Daddy - broke out into a loud chorus of laughter.

“Like I said,” Justin shook his head as he grabbed the diaper bag, “he’s definitely YOUR son, Brian. Come on my little nudist baby. Let’s see if we can figure out some way to keep your pants on you - at least until after you hit puberty. After that, I’ll let your Daddy take over.”

Another round of laughter followed Justin as he made his way through the back doors, intent on using one of the benches in the staff room as a diaper changing platform. As soon as Justin was out of sight, Michael slid into the booth, assuming the now vacant seat. Apparently he also assumed that he was completely forgiven. Brian raised one elegant eyebrow at the man’s presumption but didn’t say anything.

“So . . . Twins? Shit!” Michael offered with a conspiratorial shrug and a grin.

“Yep. I expect there will be a LOT of shit involved, Mikey. I hope Emmy Lou and Sunshine are ready. No way am I going to be changing all those fucking diapers.” Brian joked, finally relaxing back against the seat of the booth.

Which is the way Justin found the two old friends when he finally reemerged from the back with a once again diapered child. It looked like the Brian and Mikey Show wasn’t over quite yet. Justin shook his head but said nothing. What could he say? Family was like that. You didn’t always get along with them - sometimes they were outright shitty to you - but you always felt better when you knew they were there standing behind you.

Despite the fact that they hadn’t yet made any formal announcement about this pregnancy, there was already a gaggle of camera toting reporters waiting for them in front of the hospital when Brian, Justin and Daphne climbed out of the town car they’d hired to take them to Brian’s next appointment with Chiefy. Today marked the twelfth week - more or less - of Brian’s pregnancy, which also meant that it was the first day that the doctor could do a paternity test. Everyone was keyed up and nobody had the patience to deal with the third estate. Brian plastered on his best fake smile, waved to the reporters and just kept walking. His escort followed his lead and they were all safely inside the lobby in mere minutes.

Daphne pushed the button to call the elevator and then insinuated herself between her two favorite men, looping her arms through both of theirs with a definite air of ownership. She’d begged Justin incessantly for the past two weeks to be allowed to resume her position as the designated prego fag hag for this pregnancy. Justin had hesitated because of the tricky parentage issues, which he hadn’t yet explained in full detail to anyone. Daphne went over his head though, calling Brian directly, and demanding to be included in all doctor’s appointments or forfeit any future babysitting assistance. Considering how much they were likely to need reliable babysitters in the not-too-distant future, it wasn’t worth the risk. Brian caved immediately.

Daph had been totally supportive about the situation since then. She did give Brian one of her ‘I’m disappointed in you, young man’ stares - the one she inherited from her mother - when the full extent of the paternity mess was explained to her, but didn’t say anything. Instead of lecturing them, she’d gone into science geek mode and thoroughly researched the type of in-utero paternity test that they were going to be using. To everyone’s relief, Daph pronounced the test safe and advised that it had a 99% accuracy rate. Brian was reassured that it would be worth the almost $1,000 it would cost him.

As soon as the trio walked through the doors of Chiefy’s office, they were immediately ushered back to an exam room. Brian was put through the usual paces, none of which fazed him at all anymore. Next, blood samples were taken from both Brian and Justin for the paternity test. Unfortunately they wouldn’t get the results back for at least five days. Brian looked a little crestfallen when he heard that news, but Justin’s comforting hand on his shoulder kept him from venting too much about the additional delay.

Everyone was happily distracted after that by the ultrasound tech coming in to get some recent pics. Not even the obsequious giggling and pointless flirting of Kimmy, the annoying new ultrasound tech, was enough to dampen the happy couple’s excitement at seeing the new 3D pics of their twins. Brian was, as usual, fascinated by the images - most of the time it still didn’t feel real, even now, but those pictures made his situation hit home. He guessed it was true that a picture was worth a thousand words.

Chiefy concluded the visit by pronouncing that both Daddy and babies were healthy and looking good. Brian was warned that he was again underweight, however - especially for this point in a pregnancy with twins - and sent home with directions to eat a cheeseburger and some fries for lunch. After grousing about the fact that he couldn’t possibly be underweight when the waistband of his jeans was already way too tight, he conceded that he would try to eat more. Justin eagerly offered to handcuff him to the bed and feed him up if he didn’t. Daphne volunteered to help. Everyone left the exam room laughing.

By the time they got back to the lobby, the muster of media hounds had doubled in size. Justin and Daphne, who were peeking out the big glass windows at the front of the hospital, were amazed at how fast word of their visit must have travelled to get this large a group assembled. They also wondered who the leak was this time, now that Dr. Dave and his Records Department croney were out of the picture. Justin suspected the overly-giggly ultrasound tech. That aside, though, there really was no help for it - they weren’t going to get out of here today without making some statement to the press.

Brian, who was much more laid back about everything pregnancy related this time around, took it all in stride. He’d known it was inevitable that word would get out. Nothing as sensational as a SECOND TIME male pregnancy was going to fly under the radar for long. So he’d come prepared.

“Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen!” Brian announced as soon as he and his team had assembled in front of their customary flower bed and Chiefy and her security team had managed to get the crowd under control. “So, what brings all of you out here today? Did you miss me? I’m flattered!” Brian teased the crowd with his Kinney Charm on full blast and won the expected round of laughter.

“Mr. Kinney,” one intrepid reporter standing in the front row managed to out-shout her colleagues. “Would you care to comment on the rumors going around about you being pregnant a second time?”

“Now, why would I do that, Sweetheart? If we told you all our secrets right here today, then who would go out and buy the next issue of GQ? Huh?” Brian chuckled and put on his most artless smile - you could almost feel the collective hearts of the group melting into one big puddle. “Sorry, folks, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to accept a big ‘No Comment’ from us today. Thanks for coming out and saying ‘Hi’, though! Later!”

Brian waved to the crowd, blew them a waggish kiss and then turned towards his giggling blond partner. Only, just when everyone thought that Brian was about to wrap the eager teen in his arms and kiss him - as was the Prego Stud’s usual M.O. - the unpredictable man stepped around Justin, wrapped his arms around the shorter, stouter body of the Chief of Obstetrics and kissed Chiefy full on the mouth instead! The uproar of hilarity from the crowd was only fueled higher when Justin smacked Brian’s ass with a resounding slap and then stomped off in a feigned pique towards their waiting car. Daphne pretended to pull Brian away from the sputtering and totally unprepared - but not exactly protesting - Chiefy. And then they too climbed into the waiting vehicle.

“Always leave ‘em laughing,” was Brian’s only comment to his still chuckling cohorts as the car pulled away from the curb and the mass of stunned fans.

Brian parked the Audi in front of Muncherville but didn’t get out right away. He simply sat there for at least five minutes trying to take deep breaths and settle himself. This was the first official weekend overnight visit with Gus since the Family Court Judge had signed off on the parenting time agreement that his lawyers had worked out with Lindsey and Melanie, and Brian wasn’t looking forward to dealing with two still seething lesbians. It would also be the first time that Brian had actually talked to Lindsey since the Kinnetik Launch Party, so he expected to get more than an earful of recriminations before he was allowed to leave with his son. But sitting there in his car like a chickenshit wasn’t getting him anywhere, so he finally decided to nut up and just face the music.

“Dada, dada, dada!” was the first sentence Brian heard once the front door was opened to him - a blurry ball of enthusiasm latching onto his knees followed.

“Hey, Sonny Boy! You ready to come over to Daddy’s house and play with your little brother? I know Kevan’s going to be so excited to see you.” Brian picked up his oldest and tossed Gus high in the air as he greeted him, to the boy’s obvious delight.

“I’d really prefer that you not rough house like that with him, Brian,” a cool and decidedly unfriendly voice interrupted the fun without even saying hello first. “You could drop him and Gus would get hurt.”

“Lindz.” Brian nodded a brusque greeting but didn’t stop tickling and jiggling Gus while the boy was still held up in the air over his Daddy’s head. “I won’t drop him. I promise.”

“You can’t promise that, Brian. Accidents happen. And they’re more likely to happen if you engage in horseplay. If you can’t act responsibly when you have Gus with you then I think the court might reconsider whether or not you’re capable of having him at all.”

“Cut the crap, Lindz. You never cared that I played like this with Gus before, so just can it. I don’t want to argue with you. Especially not in front of our son. I just want to pick up Gus and get out of here. If you have any issues with my parenting skills, you can bring them up with my lawyer.” Brian replied, keeping his voice as calm as possible so that he wouldn’t alarm the child in his arms. “Is Gus ready to go? Did you want to send anything with him? Or should we just get going already?”

Brian knew that Gus never went anywhere without his favorite ‘Blankie’ and so did Lindsey. The fact that the blankie wasn’t yet packed up - well, that nothing at all was packed up and ready for Brian’s arrival - was just another example of Lindsey’s passive-aggressive approach to anything she didn’t like doing. Brian wasn’t surprised by any of it. So he just took Gus into the living room and seated himself on the couch while Lindsey dragged her feet as she gathered together Gus’ things. It could have been worse. If Mel had been home, there would have been actual yelling. Brian was grateful that at the very least he didn’t have to deal with Muncher #2. And he hoped things would get easier over time once Lindsey eventually forgave him for daring to assert his rights.

While Brian and Gus were patiently waiting, Brian felt the cellphone in his pocket begin to vibrate. He quickly pulled it out and saw that there was a new text from ‘Sunshine’. It read, ‘It’s here!’.

“Shit!” Brian murmured, knowing exactly what it was that Justin was texting him about - the paternity test results that were due that day. Sure enough, he tapped a couple places on his phone and saw the email he'd been expecting. “Shit!” he repeated.

“Language, Brian!” Lindsey admonished angrily. “Your son is sitting right next to you.”

Brian shook his head. “As if Potty Mouth Mel never said a swear word in front of the kid.” Lindsey scoffed but didn’t try to deny the allegation in actual words.

Brian didn’t want to waste any more time on Lindsey’s histrionics though. Now he had even more incentive to get the hell out of there as quickly as possible. Looping his arm around Gus’ middle so that he was being carried like a sack of potatoes, Brian got up off the couch and stalked over to the entryway where his son’s bag was still being assembled.

“I'm not done packing, Brian,” Lindsey complained when Brian picked up the bag and zippered it closed.

“As long as the Blankie’s in there, I think we’ll manage. Anything else Gus needs that we don't have we’ll just go buy. And next time, Lindz, have his stuff packed before I get here.” Brian ordered, heading towards the door without another look at the now blustering blonde. “Say bye to Mommy, Gus. I’ll bring him back Monday before I head to work,” he promised as he pulled the door closed behind him.

Brian wasn’t sure if he was excited to get the test results or dreading it, but either way, he had a hard time keeping himself to the speed limit on the drive back to Britin’s Chapel. Justin and Kevan were waiting for them in the backyard when they arrived - his partner’s expression evidencing equal parts eagerness and anxiety - which told Brian that his co-conspirator was just as ambivalent about the news they would be receiving soon. Brian gave himself a mental kick in the pants, and told himself one more time to stop being a pussy and just get on with it.

Gus was antsy to get out of the car and join Kevan in crawling around on the newly laid sod of the recently landscaped back yard. As soon as his father had loosened the straps on his car seat, the toddler was out and running towards the little play area that Justin had insisted they set up near the back patio. Brian had only protested for appearances sake, though, and was actually quite proud of the custom play structure that he’d had installed. Granted, the kids were far too little to enjoy it much right now, but it wouldn’t be long before they were clambering all over it on a regular basis. And, since Brian’s parents had never bothered to even put up so much as one measly tire swing for him when he was a boy, he was almost as excited by the idea of the slides and swings and such as his son. If he was occasionally forced to play with the kids on the structure, it wouldn’t really be all that bad, right?

Justin captured a tottering Gus as he tried to zoom past heading straight for the play structure’s ladder and, after teasing him with a couple of loud and wet raspberries on his round little tummy, deposited the boy in one of the swings where he could be strapped in safely for the moment. Before Brian could walk even the short distance to join them, Kevan had crawled over to Justin’s feet and started babbling for his Papa’s attention, lifting up his arms towards Gus and the swings to indicate he wanted to go up too. Daddy scooped up the bold little copy cat - who, incidentally, wasn’t wearing any pants or a diaper again that afternoon - and put him in the swing next to his brother. Then, as soon as both boys had received a few pushes - sufficient enough to cause them both to break out in smiles and giggles as they soared through the air - the two daddies took a few steps back.

“Did you look at the email yet?” the jumpy blond asked in a confidential whisper.

“No. I thought I’d wait for you . . .” Brian wasn't even trying to pretend nonchalance at this point. “Did you look at it?”

“Not yet,” Justin pulled his phone out of his pocket but hesitated before hitting the button to illuminate the screen. “You know it doesn't matter what the results are, Brian. It makes no difference at all to me. We don't even have to look at them if you don't want.”

The Once and Future Stud looked down on the gorgeous blond beaming so much love and support up at him that it made Brian’s stomach clench. He’d never had anything like this before. It scared him. But it also freed him from so much self-doubt that he felt like he was soaring higher than his kids on the swings.

“Fuck! You’re so damned beautiful, I can’t think when you smile at me like that, Sunshine,” Brian huffed out a little laugh and bent to kiss the always ready cotton-candy-pink lips. When they broke for air, Brian went on, “we still need to know - for legal reasons, if nothing else. So let’s do this thing.”

Justin lifted up his phone again and pressed the ‘On’ button. With a couple more taps he was into his email. Brian gave both boys one more big push to keep them occupied for a few more minutes and then turned his attention to the phone in his partner’s hands.

Both men quickly scanned through the letter, skipping over all the bullshit about the company’s testing procedures and statistics regarding their accuracy, until they reached the body of the missive. It didn’t take long until both men were smiling. Justin couldn’t help reading what he found there out loud.

“The alleged father, JUSTIN TAYLOR, cannot be excluded as the biological father of TWIN A/TWIN B KINNEY. Based on the genetic testing results, the probability of paternity is 99.99% when compared to an untested random man of the North American population. At least 99.99% of the North American population is excluded from the possibility of being the biological father of the child(ren) . . .”

“WooooooooHoooooooo!” the enthusiastic blond was screaming his elation at the top of his lungs and dancing around the lawn before Brian had even finished reading the whole letter. “Take that, you fucking losers. Who’s got the biggest balls now, huh? I’m the MAN!”

Brian looked on bemusedly as THE MAN danced around shouting his joy that he and his little swimmers had won the fertility contest.

“Yeah, yeah. Congratulations, my little blond sperm ranger. We’re all happy that you’re the one who knocked me up again. But could we maybe tone it down a bit? I’m not sure everyone in the entire neighborhood needs to be informed about your marauding sperm and monstrous sexual prowess. I think you’re scaring the kids, too.” Brian quipped, hooking the arm of the dancing blond daddy as he ran by on his third victory circuit and pulling the boy in for yet another long, wet and thoroughly celebratory kiss.

“Awww, come on, Stud. This is GOOD news. How come you’re not jumping up and down with me?” Justin teased when he just couldn’t hold still any longer even if it meant breaking the kiss.

“I believe that YOU are now the Stud in the family, Sunshine. I’m officially retired and will gladly hand over the title to you,” Brian squeezed the wiggly blond closer to his body, enjoying his own, slightly less raucous form of elation. “I think that from now on, I’ll just sit back and be the best Dad I can be.”

“Sorry. No can do, Brian. You’ll always be my Stud. You may be a Daddy Stud, but you’re still a Stud. And I think, even when we’re old and grey, you’ll still be the handsomest Grandpa Stud on the planet.”

Brian looked scandalized. “Bite your tongue! Me? A grandpa? That’s . . .”

“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘inevitable’,” Justin filled in the blank for his partner, smiling even as Brian slapped a hand over the teen’s mouth to quell any further blasphemous statements.

“Whatever. I’m not going to even think of it for at least another twenty years or so,” Brian resolved with an adorable self-deprecating grin that he tried to hide by folding his lips in. “Now, enough of this tom-foolery, young man. We’ve got parental swing duties to attend to and then, I believe, you said we were taking our offspring to the Puppet Theater for the afternoon? And after that . . . well, hopefully they’ll both be going down for a nap after all that and THEN I’ll be showing you just how happy I am at the news that WE’RE going to be parents again. Although, I’m still not sure I’m ready to forgive you for the whole twins thing.”

The rest of the day was spent with Brian and Justin and their sons doing the sorts of things that great Dads did with their kids. It was not the sort of thing that Brian Kinney ever expected to see himself doing. In fact, a year earlier, Brian would have sworn that he’d never be caught dead spending his Saturday afternoon at a children’s puppet theater. But that was then and this was now. Brian’s life had changed forever that night he’d decided to let a hot little blond twink have his way . . .

And now that he’d seen what his life had become, he wouldn’t have it any other way.