Holiday Happenings

This story is a sequel to "Sickness & Health, Good Times & Bad". You don't have to read that story first but this story will make more sense if you do.

Brian and Justin are established partners, sharing custody of Gus and raising Brian's nephews. This is how they I think they would celebrate fall & winter holidays.

I don't own the characters just the situations.

Chapter 1

Melanie walked out of the mental hospital towards the parking lot and her car. She had just visited Lindsay and spoken with her doctors. It has been a tough several weeks. Lindsay had become increasingly depressed and unresponsive. The doctors convinced Melanie that ECT was needed to literally shock Lindsay out of her depression.

The doctors assured Melanie that ECT was not like the old movies where the patient was awake and biting down on a rubber bit while their body convulsed. Today with anesthesia and muscle relaxants it was not as traumatic for the patient. The decision was certainly traumatic for Melanie. She discussed the ECT with Ted and with Justin before she made her final decision.

Lindsay had three sessions of ECT and results were all that everyone hoped for. She became much more responsive and was able to actively participate in her therapy. It did cause her some memory loss. Lindsay also remained terrified of her parents. Luckily they showed no interest in visiting her or even hearing about her treatment. Lindsay had laughed out loud when Melanie told her about Ron's run in with Jennifer.

Melanie hated to admit it but she knew she could not have gotten through this whole thing without all the support of Justin, Brian & Ted. She really understood what Jennifer meant when she told Melanie to look at the Brian of today. Truthfully Mel preferred talking to Justin but she knew Brian was completely supportive and had willingly paid for anything Lindsay needed that was not covered by insurance. Ted had been an amazing sounding board and Mel had shed a lot of tears on his shoulder.

Now the doctors thought Lindsay was ready to move to a hallway house. They hoped after she acclimated there that she could start to have overnight visits at home. Melanie and Lindsay had attended several joint therapy sessions and they were both anxious to work on continuing their relationship. Mel brought Gus and JR for a couple visits from Lindsay and those visits had gone better than she expected. Both Gus and JR had lots of questions about Lindsay but were happy to be told she was getting better and would come back home eventually.

After selecting their gestational surrogate Justin did his part for the Baby Sunshine Project. They purchased four donor eggs and all four were fertilized. The doctor at the surrogacy center recommended implanting two fertilized eggs to increase the chances of a successful pregnancy. The other two would stay frozen and enable a second try if the first implanted eggs didn't result in pregnancy.

Brian & Justin were both delighted when Eden became pregnant with their first attempt. Justin was excited for her first sonogram which was still a few weeks away. Both men were having a hard time keeping the baby news to themselves. Both Justin and Brian agreed that they wouldn't say anything about the new baby until the New Year.

Monday of Halloween week when Justin came down to breakfast he saw four black satin capes with red linings spread out on the sofa in the family room area. He went right over to them. After he quickly examined them he turned with a smile to Alice in the kitchen.

"You finished them. They are perfect! The boys will go crazy when they see them."

Justin had agreed to taking Gus & Kevin Trick or Treating in the O'Briens' neighborhood. Both boys wanted to be vampires for Halloween. Justin was pretty sure that vampires were Gus's idea. Roxanne had told him that Kevin was never that interested in Halloween until Gus got him excited about it this year.

Alice smiled.

"I am sure you, Gus and Kevin will love the capes and dressing up. I still have my doubts that you will get Brian to agree to dressing as a vampire."

Justin chuckled.

"Well he does love to dress in black and red is another favorite clothing choice for him. He agreed to go Trick or Treating to please Gus. All I need to do is get Gus to train those big brown eyes on his Daddy and my work will be done."

Alice just shook her head. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Justin looked smug. "It worked with the shirts at the fourth of July party."

Alice just smiled as she poured Justin's coffee and cut up an apple for him while Justin toasted his bagel.

After breakfast Justin took the capes up to his studio and stashed them with the white makeup, fangs and fake blood he has already bought for Halloween. He didn't care what Alice thought. He knew he couldn't fail with Gus as his secret weapon.

Nina was determined to be a princess for Halloween and she wanted her Teddy Man to be a prince. Viola, whose chemo sent her cancer back into remission, got the assignment of sewing the princess dress as well as a jeweled prince's tunic for Ted. He vetoed Blake's suggestion of wearing tights and opted for plain black pants and shoes. Blake did insist on buying prince & princess crowns at the party store.

JR wanted to be a bunny rabbit and planned to carry Mr Rabbit with her. Debbie was busy making a pink furry bunny suit for her granddaughter. JR preferred that nothing distract from her costume so her Daddy was told to wear his regular clothes when he escorted her for her candy gathering. Michael actually tried to convince his daughter that he should wear a costume but JR was firm, NO costume for Daddy.

When Justin picked up the boys; Peter and Josh spent the trip home discussing the party Bill & Mary were hosting on Halloween night for Josh's circle of friends. The boys felt they were past the "costume stage" so it was a plain clothes party. Peter and Josh had lots of ideas for activities they could all do at the party. As the two younger boys made party plans in the back of the car; John looked over at Justin and rolled his eyes.

John and Patrick were going to a Halloween dance at the upper school of Washington Academy. John was going as Harry Potter. Alice had made him a school robe and Justin found a pair of round glasses with plain glass at the party store. Patrick was going as Indiana Jones. Greg was in charge of transporting them to and from school as well as being one of the parent chaperones at the dance.

Once they arrived at home John and Peter hurried into the kitchen announcing to Alice that "the cafeteria lunch was putrid and they were starving!"

Alice just shrugged. "Well since you are both too cool to carry a lunch you'll have to deal with putrid lunches. Meanwhile; you both know the rules. No snacking in school clothes. Go upstairs and change. You two are having an early dinner today so not a big snack when you come back down!"

Justin smiled at the exchange between Alice and the boys. She turned her attention to him.

"I have shrimp in the refrigerator and vegetables all cut up for you to make a stir fry for you and Brian."

As John disappeared up the back stairs he left behind a comment.

"Oh boy! Romantic dinner for the Uncles tonight."

He and Peter could be heard laughing as they went upstairs. Justin smiled with raised eyebrows at Alice.

It was Justin's normal routine to sit with the boys while they ate their early dinner. He usually picked at some food and listened to what was going on in John & Peter's world. Both boys liked going to the Washington Academy and both boys were getting good grades.

Brian and Justin had both attended back to school night at the Academy. After good reports from all John & Peter's teachers; Brian was delighted to run into Ed Dennison in the hallway. Brian lost no time in relating all the teachers' positive statements about his nephews to the Dean of Admissions.

Ed tried his best to smile as Brian let him have right between the eyes. Brian ended the conversation by saying.

"Looks like you really misjudged my nephews! I hope you learned a lesson about being too quick to judge people."

Ed Dennison did his best to keep the smile on his face.

"Well we are certainly fortunate to have John and Peter here at Washington Academy. You must be very proud of them."

Brian was not about to give an inch.

"I knew they would do well as long as they were given a fair chance."

Ed just smiled and got away as soon as possible. Justin just laughed and Brian looked very pleased with himself.

The big news at dinner tonight was that Peter had so many kids coming to him for tutoring in the Library after classes that the Librarian had turned over a small conference room to him. John gave his brother a hard time over it but Justin could tell John was really proud of his little brother.

When Brian came through the kitchen door Justin was waiting with a welcome home kiss. Justin saw Brian look quickly around the room – no Alice, no nephews, table set for two. Justin watched Brian's eye darken with desire and he smiled.

"Go get changed. We are having a shrimp stir fry for our dinner. The boys are banished to the game room."

Brian smiled and leaned down to deliver another kiss to his favorite blonde.

"Sounds good Sunshine!"

Justin got the ingredients for the stir fry out of the refrigerator. By the time a casually dressed Brian returned dinner was just about ready. Justin gave Brian a big sunshine smile.

"How about opening a bottle of wine."

Brian keyed in the lock code for the wine fridge and selected a bottle. Once he had it open he poured two glasses of wine and gave one to Justin. Brian stood behind Justin with his hands on his shoulders as he finished the stir fry.

"This is a treat to have you all to myself Sunshine!"

Justin chuckled. "Let's not pretend this doesn't happen at least once a week. It's Alice you should thank she set everything up for our dinner a deux."

Brian laughed. "Oh lala dinner a deux, how cosmopolitan of us."

Justin joined in the laughter as he plated their food. He handed Brian one plate and they walked over to the table. Brian was in a very good mood so Justin laughed through most of dinner at the outrageous stories Brian related. When Brian wasn't telling stories he was playing footsies under the table with the smiling Justin. The more Justin smiled the happier Brian got and the happier he got the harder he tried to get Justin to keep smiling at him.

When they were done eating Brian helped Justin with clean up.

"Hey Sunshine. It's a nice night why don't we go out and look at the stars?"

"Seriously?"

"Sure, it will be ridiculously romantic."

Justin chuckled but agreed. Brian had slipped some lube in his pocket when he got changed so he was planning on more than star gazing. They grabbed a blanket from the pool house and strolled down by the pond. Justin spread out the blanket and they both laid down.

Brian actually knew quite a bit about astronomy and enjoyed picking out constellations with Justin. After a short time Justin shivered; just what Brian was waiting for.

"Are you cold Sunshine?"

"A little."

"Well let me see if I can warm you up."

Bran rolled over to cover Justin's body with his. He gazed into Justin's beautiful blue eyes and then glued his mouth onto Justin's. Brian pulled off his own shirt and Justin's. His mouth worked its way down Justin's chest. Brian loved claiming the soft ivory colored skin as his own. Justin worked is his fingers through Brian's hair.

When Brian made his way low enough he undid Justin's pants and pulled them and his underwear off. He quickly took Justin's hardening cock into his mouth. Justin's gasps and moans of pleasure spurred Brian on. He pushed Justin's knees back until his pucker was in the correct position and quickly dove in for a rim job. Brian had Justin squirming and moaning when he paused long enough to slip off his own pants.

Bran coated his fingers in lube and worked one and then two into Justin's hole to prepare him. Justin was squirming even more.

"Brian for fuck's sake get your dick in me now!"

Brian chuckled. "For fuck's sake?"

Justin wasn't in the mood to discuss terminology. "Just do it now!"

Brian eased himself into his partner. Justin got his arms around Brian and pulled him down for a kiss. Brian reached down and grabbed Justin's cock and stroked.

"Brian harder, faster!"

Brian was happy to comply with his lover's requests and Justin's moans of pleasure were music to his ears. As Justin came his ass clamped down on Brian's dick which took him over the edge. Brian gathered Justin up in his arms as they hungrily kissed each other.

It didn't take a sweaty Justin long to start shivering again.

"Cold Sunshine."

"Yes. That was amazing but I'm ready to go back inside."

They used the blanket to clean up and dry off some before getting dressed and heading back up to the house. John & Peter were in the kitchen eating a snack as Brian and Justin came through the patio doors.

The boys looked over at their disheveled uncles. Peter was just kind of wide eyed but John found his voice.

"What were you guys doing out back?"

Brian kept a straight face as an embarrassed Justin hurriedly took the blanket to the laundry room.

"It's a nice night. We decided to go out and look at the stars."

John and Peter shook their heads and laughed. Justin came out of the laundry room and as John & Peter looked over at him he just shrugged.

Brian got two bottles of water from the refrigerator and handed one to Justin. Peter had gotten control of himself.

"I did want to talk to you guys."

Justin smiled. "What's up?"

"I was talking to Gus earlier about his math homework. He was in charge of watching his sister and she was not paying any attention to him. He told me Mama was taking a shower. I kind of think JR is more than Gus can handle on his own."

Justin nodded and thanked Peter for letting them know. Brian was furious but kept his no emotion face in place. Justin could tell by Brian's grip on the water bottle that he was not happy.

Brian excused himself and went to the study and called Gus. He heard Mel ask Gus who was calling his phone and Gus said Daddy. Mel said to remind Daddy that it was Gus's bedtime.

Brian said he just needed a couple minutes to talk with Gus and asked him to go to his bedroom. Ten minutes later a still furious Brian reappeared in the kitchen.

Justin and the boys were sitting at the counter talking. Justin turned to Brian as he walked back into the room.

"What did Gus say?"

Brian was a little surprised. "How did you know I called him?"

Justin rolled his eyes. "Please! I can read you like a book Mr Kinney."

Brian smirked. "I'm not so sure about that. Gus told me sometimes Mel ask him to keep an eye on JR for a short time. He said JR is a pest and sometimes doesn't pay attention to him and if she gets into something she shouldn't Mel blames Gus. I am going to have a talk with her!"

Justin gave his partner a look. "A nice calm talk will accomplish much more than a loud shouting match."

"Yes dear."

"Brian!"

Brian sighed. "I know you are right. I'll do my best to stay calm and reasonable."

Justin gave him a smile and a kiss.

John and Peter announced they were going up to their rooms. Brian and Justin locked up the house and set the alarm before going to their room for a second round of romance. The next morning Justin woke up enough to warn Brian again to be reasonable when he talked with Melanie.

Brian had a busy morning at Kinnetik so he didn't have the time to think about confronting Melanie. Melanie also felt the need to talk with Brian so she called Carole to see if Brian had time on his calendar to meet with her. They agreed that 2 o'clock would work for both Brian & Melanie.

When Brian got back in his office after two morning presentations he was surprised to see the meeting with Melanie on his schedule. Carole told him she had called to arrange a meeting.

Meanwhile Justin was busy in his studio. He had a November art show in Miami to prepare for. At lunch time Alice came up and knocked on the door.

"Justin, you need to take a break before your hand acts up. I have lunch all ready for you."

Justin was laughing as he came down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Did Brian tell you to make sure I rested my hand?"

Alice sniffed. "There are some things I can figure out on my own. When you get involved in your art, time has no meaning to you. I don't need Brian or anyone else to tell me that."

Justin gave Alice a kiss on the cheek sitting at the counter to eat his lunch.

Melanie arrived a few minutes early for her meeting with Brian. Carole buzzed him and he said to send Melanie in to his office.

Brian was sitting at his desk. He motioned to the guest chairs in front of the desk.

"Have a seat Mel. What's on your mind?"

Melanie settled into a guest chair.

"Lindsay is ready to be transferred to a halfway house. Once she is settled there the doctors want her to have some trial visits at home to reacclimate to her normal life."

Brian nodded.

"That seems like a good thing. Since you didn't just announce this with a phone call or an email I am thinking there is more to this story."

"Once Linds spends time at home the doctors say it is important that she has some private quiet place she can retreat to if things get too hectic. There is no place like that at the loft.

I've talked to Ted about what I can afford to pay for housing expenses. That leaves me with a couple issues. One, there is no way I will be able to contribute to JR's school tuition as soon as I hoped.

And two, when we moved back here you mentioned that you and Justin would be willing to hold a mortgage when we were ready to buy a house. I was hoping to have saved some money for at least a down payment but now we need a house soon. Lindsay is just not going to make it back to a normal life while we are living at the loft."

Brian sat back in his chair and took a deep breath.

"You know Mel, our financial well is deep but it is not bottomless."

"I di understand that and you know that if I had any other viable option I wouldn't be here. I've talked with Ted about the possibility of getting a mortgage from a bank and as I suspected that isn't possible right now. Once I am in the position of getting a standard mortgage I promise to do that and pay you off."

Brian nodded.

"Have you talked with Mikey and Ben about the possibility of them contributing to JR's support or her school tuition?"

Melanie shook her head.

"I did talk to Michael. He told me they can't afford to contribute to anything."

"Not a huge surprise. Okay, well give Mother Taylor a call and she can find some houses to show you."

"Actually Brian, the firm has a real estate agent that we use. I already talked to her about what we are looking for."

Brian leaned forward and stared directly at Melanie.

"Is there a chance your law firm will finance a house for you?"

"No! I'm not even a partner any more. There's no chance of that happening."

"Let's me be very clear in this situation. My money, my real estate agent. You buy the house from Jennifer or I have no intention of giving you any money."

Melanie leaps to her feet.

"Everything always has to be YOUR way!"

Brian just shrugs.

"Yup! Climb down from your fucking high horse. Justin and my money is paying for this house and you don't want to use Jennifer as your real estate agent. You need to get a grip on reality. OUR money, OUR way!"

Melanie sits back down.

"I would like an agent that I know is looking out for me not you."

"I know that Jennifer will look out for Gus's best interests and that is all I fucking care about. Deal with it or find a new source of money."

"Well I really don't have any alternative."

"You're a smart woman Melanie I knew you'd figure it out."

Melanie facial expression stayed grim.

"Are we done?"

"Actually Mel I'm glad you stopped by today. I know that you have to trust Gus to oversee JR for short periods of time. However I think you need to impress upon JR that she has to pay attention to Gus. Also if she gets into something she isn't supposed to you need to start blaming her not Gus!"

Melanie was wide eyed.

"What brought this discussion on?"

"Gus talked to Peter about this when Peter was on the phone with him answering some math questions. JR was getting into something and Gus said you would blame him."

"Brian, you have no idea what I have to deal with when I am alone with both children. I don't appreciate you second guessing me."

"I told you I understood you having to leave the kids alone for short periods of time. However it appears you may not be fair about apportioning blame for bad behavior."

Melanie sat back in the chair and attempted to calm down.

"Gus is older. I have to be able to rely on him."

"Mel, Gus is seven. JR is a very strong willed little girl, no guesswork where that trait comes from. I am just suggesting she needs to receive the appropriate amount of blame for bad behavior."

As much as she hated to admit it Melanie realized that Brian might just have a point. She knew that sometimes even she had trouble controlling JR's behavior.

"Thanks for letting me know. Gus is such a responsible little guy I probably do depend in him a little too much. It is not that I favor JR!"

Brian chuckled.

"I never thought you were playing favorites. I understand that Gus is responsible and likes to be helpful."

Amazingly Brian and Melanie parted on pretty good terms. Melanie was honest enough to realize part of her issues with Brian and his control was that she HATED having to depend on him or anyone.

Melanie called Jennifer with her housing requirements. Jennifer told her she would email her some listings for Melanie to look over. Melanie said she preferred not to be close to Michael & Ben's house. Jennifer laughed and said she could understand feeling that way.

Brian came home in not quite as good a mood as the day before. He and Justin spent some time in the study before dinner. Brian brought Justin up to date on his conversation with Melanie.

They sat together on the sofa with Brian's arm around Justin's shoulders. Justin burrowed himself into Brian's side.

"So can we actually afford to buy a house for Melanie and Lindsay?"

"Depends on what you mean by afford. Certainly we can do it but we will probably have to access some line of credit to do it."

Justin was quiet for a few moments.

"I'm sorry we have all the baby expense now when we need cash for other stuff."

"Sunshine! Don't be a twat. The baby is the good news in midst of all this muncher bullshit. If it wasn't for Gus I wouldn't care what happened to them."

"Well it's not really their fault. I mean we have to understand that Lindsay's had some bad stuff to get over."

Brian shook his head.

"I know she had a tough time with her asshole father or whatever the fuck Ron is. That does not excuse everything she did! I understand having a fucked up childhood but you have to rise above it."

Justin pulled back a little and looked into Brian's face.

"I really fucking love you and admire you and am really, really glad to have you in my life."

Brian leaned down to kiss Justin.

"We are lucky to have each other Sunshine!"