Part 9



Lindsay showed up at noon, looking to go out to lunch to discuss Brian’s “lapse in judgment.”  Brian was particularly amused by that turn of phrase and turned it around on her as she sat in the same spot Michael had recently occupied.  “I’m not going anywhere with you until you fix your own little lapse in judgment.”



Brian had to hand it to her; she certainly caught on a lot quicker than Michael.  And she seemed to feel a lot guiltier than Michael had.  Michael was, as usual, more concerned with losing Brian’s affection than he was about hurting Justin.  Lindsay at least seemed to know that she had behaved horribly.



“I knew we were wrong,” Lindsay said.  “I hated shutting him out.  But Michael was so fucking… Melanie agreed with him.  She thought Justin would be better off if we cut any ties he had to you, even indirect ties.  In some way I think for her it was as much about you as it was about Justin.  But I should never have given in.  In my heart, I knew it was wrong.”



Brian stared at her blankly.



“Okay,” Lindsay said.  “You have made your point.  I’ll see what I can do to make things right.”



In minutes she was on her way again.  Brian had set up a time to pick Gus up that weekend.  The zoo was opening for the season that weekend and Justin had promised Gus that they would go.



Once Lindsay was gone, Brian gave some last minute instructions to Michelle and left the office.  His blue Mustang roared through the streets and he was soon parked in the small lot behind the loft.  Justin’s SUV was parked in his usual spot and Brian smiled.  A quick trip up the elevator to the fourth floor and Brian was home.  There was no sign of Justin in the main living space, so Brian walked through the doorway into the newer area.



As he walked he looked in each of the spaces.  To the left, closest to the front of the building, was the storage closet.  It was rather small, but they were able to fit quite a lot into the small space.  Then the study was next.  There were two windows that looked out over the alley and let in plenty of natural light.  Brian’s desk and shelves took up much of the space, but Justin had gotten his way and there was also a pullout sofa for when Daphne came to visit.    Next was the bathroom; it was quite small, but adequate for a second bath.  Finally, the hall opened up into Justin’s studio at the back of the building.  This room had windows looking over the alley, windows at the back overlooking the parking lot and windows and French doors leading out to the roof deck.  It was obvious why Justin had chosen this space for his studio.  With so much natural light, it was an ideal space for a painter.



That was where Brian found his lover, working on the portrait of Emmett and George.  It was a surprise for Emmett, so George had sent Justin photos of the two of them together that he had said would be used for a Christmas card.  Justin used both the photos and his memory to recreate the portrait, adding in his own small touches. For instance, Brian knew that there was no globe in the background of the pictures, but there was in the portrait.  Justin said it was to commemorate the trip the two had taken around the world several years back.  Justin had included a lot of little things like that, details he had gotten from long talks with George over the phone.  It looked finished to Brian, but Justin was still working on a few small details that were lost to the non-artist’s eye.



“How’s it going Sunshine?” Brian asked when Justin stepped back to get a look at what he had done.



Justin looked over and grinned.  “I was just finishing up.  I thought you’d be a little longer getting here.  I think I’m just about done with this one.  Give me ten minutes to finish and another ten to clean up and I’m all yours for the rest of the afternoon.”



Brian smirked.  “You shouldn’t make promises like that.  I might just take advantage.”



Justin came over and, careful not to get paint on Brian’s suit, leaned up to kiss him.  “I like when you take advantage of me.”



Brian groaned.  “That’s way too tempting.  But I have plans and you aren’t going to sidetrack me from them. Now go paint, stud, while I change and make a few calls.”



BJBJBJBJBJ



Brian’s good intentions were for naught.  One look at Justin, stripped for his shower half an hour later, and Brian was ready to join him under the hot spray.  Of course, that had delayed them both for quite some time.  It was a good thing that Brian’s plans were somewhat flexible.  One call and he was able to set back their timetable.



“Where are we going?” Justin asked as they left the city and headed out towards the country.



“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise,” Brian said.



It took them almost an hour to reach their destination, but even as they pulled into the long driveway of a farmhouse, Justin still had no idea where they were or why they were there.  Brian just smirked at him as he parked the Mustang and they climbed out.



“Where are we?” Justin asked.



Before Brian had a chance to answer, however, the front door of the house opened and a pretty woman in her mid-thirties stepped out.  “Mr. Kinney?”



“Brian,” He corrected with a smile as he held out his hand for her to shake.  “And this is my partner Justin.”



“Well, Justin, nice to meet you,” she said.  “And happy birthday.  My name’s Allison Carter.”



“It’s nice to meet you,” Justin said.



“Well, I guess I should show you the pups,” Allison said.



“Pups?” Justin asked, turning to Brian who was grinning.



“Puppies,” Brian said.  “Allison raises puppies.  And she has a litter ready for sale.”



Justin laughed even as they followed Allison.  “You’re giving me a puppy for my birthday?  You, Mr. Dogs-aren’t-getting-anywhere-near-my-designer-labels Kinney are buying a dog?”



“Yeah, well, things can change,” Brian said.  “Besides, I know you’ve always wanted one.”



Allison led them into a well insulated and heated barn.  In one of the stalls where Justin would have expected to see a horse, he saw a mamma dog and six puppies.  The puppies were scrambling all over each other as they fought to get to the food dish that Allison set in front of them.



“They’re purebred Weimaraners,” Allison informed Justin.  “I’ll keep the best of the litter for showing or breeding, sell four to good homes and donate one to the seeing eye dog program.  You can pick any of them except the one with the yarn tied around his neck. That’s Nicky.”



Justin watched the puppies play and smiled.  “Do they always live out here?”



“Some do,” Allison said.  “Some are part of the family and live in the house.  But things would get really crazy if they all lived in the house.  And the puppies all stay out here until they are weaned.  Nicky will come into the house after his brothers and sisters all go.”



Of the five puppies left, all but one was the pretty silvery gray color that Justin expected.  The one, however, had a darker blue-gray coat that Justin loved.  Then again, as he watched them eat and play and fell in love with all of them.



“So, which will it be?” Brian finally asked.



“All of them?” Justin said jokingly.  As he watched, however, the dark one ambled over to him and began sniffing around his feet and then planted his front paws on Justin’s leg and looked up at him.  Their eyes met and Justin was hooked.  He bent down and picked him up.  “I think he’s chosen me.”



“Smart dog,” Brian said dryly.  He noticed one of the lighter puppies sniffing at his loafers and grimaced.  “You can’t chew those.”  He picked the puppy up and looked into his blue eyes and was hooked.  “Shit.”



Justin saw Brian and laughed.  “I think we’re getting two puppies.”



“Alright,” Allison said with a smile.  “I’ll get their paperwork together.”



Brian followed her to the office area while Justin played with the puppy in his arms.  The little guy licked and sniffed Justin wherever he could reach and Justin was literally tickled by the action.  He hardly noticed the other two leave, and he hardly noticed when they returned a few minutes later.



“They’ve had their first round of vaccinations, but there is another round that will need to be done at three months,” Allison said.  “Now the blue one is less popular and rarely shown.  I would suggest that if you don’t plan on breeding them that you get them fixed.  Otherwise, they’ll start humping pretty much everything in a couple years.  Better to do it early.”



Brian cringed at the thought as he continued to stroke at his puppy’s head, but Justin nodded in agreement.  Well, the blond would just have to take on the job himself, because Brian wasn’t going to have anything to do with “fixing” anyone.



The mamma dog came over when she sensed they were getting ready to go and sniffed at Brian and then Justin.  She gave a small “wuff” and Justin leaned down to her level.  The mamma looked at him and then licked at her puppy one last time before nudging them both away and returning to her bed.



A few minutes later, they were back in the car with the puppies in a towel-lined cardboard box in the back seat and headed back towards Pittsburgh.  Before they reached home, however, Brian stopped at one of the large pet stores in the city and they carried the puppies in with them while they bought all the necessities and a few items that just looked like fun.  Brian also signed them all up for obedience training and for housetraining lessons.  He figured it was best to get the experts to help.  Justin went to the counter where they etched the dog tags and began looking through the options.



“He needs a name before you tag him,” Brian reminded him.



“I thought we might call him Randy,” Justin said.



“Synonym for horny,” Brian mused.  “I like it.  And this guy will be Harry.”



Justin rolled his eyes and filled out the form to give to the attendant.  While they waited, they filled out the license applications the store had in a pamphlet holder.  Brian put them into his jacket to be mailed along with a check when they got home.  Before long they had Randy and Harry’s tags ready to be put on their brand new collars.  On the front were the dogs’ names and on the back was their names and information.  Soon they would add the license.



Once they loaded everything into the trunk of the car, and some to the back seat, they were off to the loft.  A quick unload, and Justin was setting up food and water dishes, two doggie beds, a basket with their new toys, and their leashes hung by the front door along with the bags that he’d have to carry to clean up after their walks.



As soon as Justin set the puppies free from their box, they were off like a shot, exploring every nook and cranny of their new home.  Of course, in his excitement, Randy had his very first accident.  Luckily it was in the bathroom, where the tile was relatively easy to clean.  Of course, Brian swore that this was a sign that they should have called Justin’s dog Little Pisser.  And of course, Harry was a perfect angel… at least in Brian’s mind.



All in all, it was a great birthday for Justin despite the way it had begun.