Brian Kinney leaned back against the wall of the elevator during the short ride to the top floor. He’d decided, regretfully, that he should have followed his instincts and passed on the trip. As much as he’d enjoyed being in the company of thousands of beautiful boys, he was glad to be home. He’d realized, while his eyes were scanning the crowd, that no one he’d seen made him forget about the young man he’d left at home.

Brian opened the door slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible. Stepping inside, he slid the door shut and stood for a minute, listening.

"Yeah..." The voice was unmistakable.

"That’s so good."

"Ooooh..."

The more Brian heard of Justin’s one-sided conversation, the more intrigued he became.

"That’s perfect, baby!"

"Come on! Do it again!"

It was painfully obvious that Justin wasn’t alone. I had no right to expect him to be, Brian decided. After all, I left him and flew off to fuck in Miami. It was a little late for him to realize that maybe he should have called home from the plane, or the airport, to let the teenager know he was coming. It’s not fair, he decided, to just walk in on… whatever it was that Justin and his companion were doing.

Brian remained where he was, still listening.

"What a good boy!" Good boy? How old was this other guy?

"You’re too smart for me, Gus!"

Gus?!

"Jesus!" Brian almost started laughing, partially from relief that Justin wasn’t fucking someone and partially from shock that his son was there. He walked to the bedroom and looked in. Justin and Gus were sitting on the bed, rolling a ball back and forth. Toys were strewn around the room and there were partially-eaten cookies on the bedside table. "What the fuck is going on, Justin?"

The teenager, who was sitting with his back to the door, jumped, then looked around. "Brian! What’re you doing back so soon? I thought you were staying ‘til tomorrow night."

"Well, life is full of surprises, isn’t it?" Walking to the edge of the bed, he looked down at Justin, who was wearing a pale blue tank top and the bottoms to those dorky blue plaid pajamas his mother had bought him last month. His hair was disheveled and his face was flushed, as if he’d been running. Leaning over, Brian aimed a kiss at Justin’s upturned face, but only managed to connect with his ear. "Now that I’m here, let’s take the kid back to his mommies so you can give me a proper welcome."

Justin scooted away before Brian could make further contact, catching the baby as he was about to lose his balance. "We can’t. Mel and Lindz aren’t home yet."

"What do you mean, they’re not home? Where are they?"

"Someone Melanie works with has a cabin out in the country somewhere, and they went out there to spend the night. They’re supposed to pick Gus up on their way back in."

"When will that be?"

"I don’t know. Later." Justin crawled off the bed and picked the baby up. "It’s time for his dinner. Come and help me."

Brian was left alone, momentarily, before he followed Justin into the kitchen. "Why isn’t he with the babysitter?"

"Here, hold him." Justin pushed the baby into Brian’s arms and went to the refrigerator. "She twisted her ankle this morning, and had to go to the hospital. Deb and I picked Gus up and brought him to her house." Justin busied himself with heating food in the microwave as he related the day’s events. "Then, Carla got sick and they called Debbie in to work. I convinced her to let me bring him here, since it was only for a couple of hours." With the food heated, Justin brought it over to where Brian and Gus sat on the couch. "Come on, sweetheart," he held the spoon up in front of the baby’s face, "eat for Uncle Justin."

"Uncle Justin?" Brian made a face.

Gus turned toward the young man and opened his mouth. Justin scooped a small amount of food into the spoon. "Open wide!"

"Isn’t that what daddy says to Uncle Justin?" Brian laughed and Justin smacked him on the arm, then returned to his task. "Hey! Is that marinara sauce?" He pushed Justin’s hand away.

Justin paused. "No. It’s plain old tomato sauce."

"All the more reason to keep it away from the sofa cushions." He glared at Justin.

"Okay. Let’s sit on the floor." He stood up and hurried over to a blue denim bag in the bedroom. Returning to the couch, he tied a bib around the squirming baby’s neck. "Come on, Brian."

Sighing theatrically, Brian scooted onto the floor, still holding his son. "What is that, besides tomato sauce?"

"SpaghettiOs." Justin said, with a smile.

"Spaghetti--" He glanced down. "What are they doing to you, Gus, feeding you crap like that?"

"He likes it." Justin shoveled food into the baby’s mouth. "See?"

Gus looked up at his father. "Hey!" Justin coaxed. "Over here." Gus looked back at the teenager, who continued feeding him.

The bowl was almost empty by the time Gus lost interest. "Pretty soon you’ll be eating as much as me, Gus." Justin smiled as we went back to the kitchen. He rinsed out the dish and put it in the dishwasher, then retrieved a cup out of the refrigerator.

"Is he drinking blue curacao?" Brian stared in fear. "Take him, Justin, before he spills it on me."

"It’s just Kool-Aid." Justin pulled Gus over to sit in his lap.

"And this is a brand new shirt - linen."

Justin took several seconds to examine his lover. "It looks great on you. Did you buy it in Miami?"

Brian nodded. "There was this little boutique in the hotel and they had nothing but white clothes for sale."

Justin stood up slowly, allowing Gus to get his balance. "Let’s go back to the bedroom, Gus, where your toys are."

"Mmmhhh," Brian tried to grab Justin’s ass as he and Gus walked by. "That’s where all of daddy’s and Uncle Justin’s toys are, too."

Justin tried to shoot his lover a disapproving look. "Are you coming?"

Standing up, Brian went over and snatched a beer out of the refrigerator. "Apparently not, until the kid goes home."

When Brian got back to the bedroom, Justin and Gus were back on the bed, looking through a large book. "Come on, Brian, and play with us."

"I’d rather not." Brian sat on the edge of the bed and watched. "I don’t know what kids like to do."

"You’ve never been around them much, have you?"

"Not much. Have you?"

"I was almost eight when my sister, Molly, was born. Mom used to let me give her bottles and play with her."

"I-I play with Gus. Sometimes."

Justin looked serious. "Taking him to the park and sticking him on the swing for half an hour doesn’t count. Wouldn’t you like to take him to the zoo or the Museum or the Science Center? All those places you went when you were a kid?"

"You may have gone to all those places, but I didn’t."

"What do you mean, you didn’t? Your parents…" Justin paused, remembering what little he knew about Brian’s parents. "Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

Justin was quiet for several seconds, watching Gus play. "That should make you more determined to do things with Gus, ‘cause no one did them with you."

"Justin, I’m never going to be father of the year." Brian took another drink of beer. "What difference does it make to you anyway?"

"What do you mean, what difference does it make? I love Gus! He’s adorable and really smart… And," Justin looked down, "he’s a part of you, Brian."

"Only because I let Lindsay talk me into jerking off."

"He’s connected to you in a way I never will be." Justin was quiet for a long minute, helping Gus turn the pages of the book. "Sometimes, when I look at him, I pretend that he belongs to us."

"You and me - us?"

"Yeah. Wouldn’t it be amazing if you and I could make a baby?"

"Only if you’re the one who gets knocked up." Brian laughed. "Justin, I think you’re getting senile in your old age. Yesterday, you were talking about marriage and today, you think you want a kid."

Justin smiled. "That’s okay - laugh if you want to. I know it’s not possible, but I still wish you and I could adopt a baby, or maybe we could get Lindsay to have another one, for us."

"Yeah, go ahead and ask her. She was a total bitch the entire time she was pregnant. And, next time, *you* can be the one jerking off."

"No, I think it should be you again. Just look at how gorgeous Gus is."

"You don’t think a baby Justin would be just as cute?"

Justin looked at Gus again, then back at Brian. He had a serious look on his face. "I know you’re teasing me, but I wish you’d at least think about it."

"Justin, do you really want to be responsible for bringing another human being into this fucked-up world? And, think about all the shit we’d have to buy for a baby - all the money it would cost. Can we at least get you out of college and earning a living before we take on any more responsibilities?"

"Okay, I won’t mention it again. For now. But don’t think I’m going to forget about it." Gus pushed the book away and crawled back into Justin’s lap. "Brian, can you bring me Gus’ bottle, out of the fridge?"

Brian hurried to retrieve the bottle. "What does this have in it? Bailey’s?"

"Milk." Justin made a face, then looked down. "Look who’s getting sleepy."

Brian was trying not to stare at his young companion as he held the bottle for Gus. "I’m going to take a shower. Maybe he’ll be asleep when I come back."

The shower lasted longer than usual. As he walked back into the bedroom, a towel draped around his hips, Brian stopped abruptly and stared at the bed. Gus was lying on his side with Justin curled around him. They were both asleep. Moving as close to the bed as he dared, he gazed at the two most important people in his world. It was weird that they’d both entered his life on the same night. Since then, nothing would ever be the same as it was before they arrived.

Brian was pulled from his reverie by the sound of the buzzer. He hurried to the door before the noise woke Justin and Gus. "Yeah?"

There was a short pause. "Brian?"

"Come on up." He punched the button and went to put some clothes on.

Lindsay and Melanie were uncharacteristically quiet when they walked into the apartment. "What are you doing back so soon?" Lindsay asked.

"One of my new clients decided to move up our meeting from Friday to tomorrow afternoon."

"Well," the blond woman smiled, "did you enjoy yourself?"

"Best White Party I’ve ever been to."

"You must be tired, Brian," Mel chimed in. "We’ll take Gus so you and Justin can be alone." She looked around expectantly.

"He’s asleep." Brian pointed toward the bedroom and they all walked over to look. "I guess they exhausted each other."

"Ohhh," both women uttered the same sound at the same time.

Lindsay stepped up to stand beside the bed. "They look so adorable…"

"Don’t they?" Brian smiled sweetly. "My two sons."

"Oh, don’t be so grumpy," Melanie scolded. "just because your vacation got cut short."

"Do you have any idea how lucky you are to have someone as special as Justin in your life?"

Brian sighed deeply. "He does give the most amazing blowjobs."

The women made a face. "He doesn’t deserve him," Melanie offered. "How many times have I told you that, Lindz?"

"Okay, that’s enough - I don’t have to put up with abuse in my own apartment," Brian challenged. "Get your kid and get out."

Lindsay moved over to sit on the edge of the bed while Brian and Melanie picked up toys and put them in the bag. Gus was only partially awake when the women started walking toward the door. Justin kissed Lindsay, then Melanie, then Gus, before watching them walk to the elevator. When they were gone, he ambled back up to the bed. "Is it too late for me to tell you welcome home and I missed you?"

"How could you miss me?" Brian followed. "You were busy celebrating the happy union with your ‘family’."

"Did I tell you I caught the bouquet?" Justin smiled slyly. "Emmett is taller, but I cheated."

"Where is it?" Brian looked around. "Did you have to give it back?"

Justin shook his head. "It’s at Deb’s. She’s going to dry it for me."

Brian walked over and fetched something plastic out of his bag. Unwrapping it, he tossed it on the bed beside Justin. "What’s this?" He touched the wilted flowers and leaves.

"I caught a bouquet too." Brian sat down on the edge of the bed.

"It’s dead, Brian. Why did you bring it home?"

"I don’t know. I thought you’d like to see it."

"Was it everything you hoped it would be?" Brian looked confused. "The party - did you fuck dozens of hot men?"

"I did lots of guys, yes." Brian nodded.

Justin raised up on his knees and crawled across the bed to where Brian was sitting. "Is there anything I can do to let you know how happy I am that you’re home?"

Brian stripped Justin’s shirt off quickly, then lowered his mouth to the junction of his neck and shoulder. "Mmmhhh." He looked up. "Justin, you taste like butterscotch."

"Gus and I were eating pudding at Deb’s," he laughed. "Guess I need a shower, huh?" He stepped off the bed and started removing the rest of his clothes.

Brian watched Justin as he walked slowly toward the bathroom. A smile stole across his sensuous mouth as his eyes feasted on the sight of the beautiful young body. "Is there room enough in that shower for me?"