"Michael! Michael, get your ass up!" Brian shouts as soon as he lets himself in the Novotny-Bruckner home on the drizzly Sunday morning. When he doesn't get an answer, he bounds up the stairs to the master bedroom. He slams his open palm on the bedroom door. "Michael! Get up! I have to show you something!"
"Brian?" A tired voice calls. Down the hall, Hunter pokes his head out of his bedroom door. "What are you doing here?"
"Just trying to get your old men up."
Fed up with the lack of attention from his life-long friend, Brian gives up on knocking and instead flings the door open to see the couple spooning on the bed.
"Michael!" Brian shouts again, finally getting a groan from the two.
"Why are you in our bedroom?" Ben mumbles without taking his arms from around Michael.
"Shh. Maybe if were quiet he'll go away." Michael suggest. With a scoff and a roll of his eyes, Brian flops down on the bed so he's laying next to Michael, so close that the tips of their noses almost touch.
"Oh, come on, Mikey. I got something for you."
"And it can't wait until a more decent hour?"
Ben sits up and sighs as he checks the alarm clock. Seven fourteen in the morning. Brian smirks, knowing exactly how to get under Ben's skin, and plants a quick kiss on Michael's lip. It finally makes him open his eyes.
"How did you get in our house?" Ben questions.
"Hunter." Michael huffs and rolls over from his side to his back, staring up at the ceiling. "He must've forgotten to lock the front door again."
"Hunter!" Ben calls as he stands and he strides over to the open door. An agitated groan is heard from the teen as he leaves his room.
"Actually, I found his keys at the diner." Brian admits and digs through his pocket. Hunter arrives in the doorway.
"What now?"
"You have to keep better track of your keys, buddy." Ben tells him. Brian props himself up on his elbow while holding the keys up in his other hand. The leather keychain with H.N.B. stamped into it made it easy to identify who they belonged to. Brian tosses them to the teen. "You never know who might find them and have access to the house."
"You're just mad because Brian woke you up." Hunter grumbles.
"Just don't let it happen again. We don't need to give Brian access to our home." Ben teases.
"Too late." Brian smirks. "I already had a copy made."
"Great." Ben mutters sarcastically. He walks back to his bed and gives Michael a kiss. "I'm going to take a shower, love."
Michael smiles
"Look what I have, Mikey." Brian says and unzips the pocket on his leather coat when ben leaves the room. He pulls out four plane tickets and drops them on Michael's chest. Still groggy, Michael picks them up and half-heartedly examines them. "The four of us leave this evening, so pack your bags."
"Where are we going?"
"Canada, to see the kids."
"Brian, we can't go to Canada!" Michael sighs.
"Why not?" Brian questions with a twisted face. "I already paid for the tickets. We can stay at Mel and Lindsey's. I'll pay for anything else we need. All you have to do is pack bags for you, the professor, and Hunter."
"Because both Ben and Hunter have class tomorrow!"
"Then tell them to play hooky!"
"It's not that simple." Michael tells him as he props himself up with his elbows. The questioning scowl on his pal's face makes it obvious that Brian doesn't understand why they can't just pack up and leave. "Ben has already missed so many classes after what happened at Babylon, and Hunter can't afford to miss any more days of school. We finally have him back on the right track. I can't derail him from that."
"You can have him excused from class since it's a family emergency, not a vacation." Brian insists. "Come on, get your bags packed and let's go!"
"Hold on! What do you mean, 'family emergency'? Is everything okay? Is something wrong with the kids? With JR?" Michael starts to panic and sits up, concern engulfing his face. When Brian rolls his eyes, though, he knows it's nothing.
"Everything's fine. Don't get your panties in a bunch. Just tell his school that it is an emergency and you won't have any trouble from them."
"He can't miss anymore days of school!" Michael repeats, then lets out another sigh. "Besides, when he misses a day of school the other kids make up rumors about him. He missed school last Thursday because of a migraine. They said it was because he was in the hospital because his HIV turned to AIDS. They gave him a hard time when he came back. I'm not doing that to him."
This time, it's Brian who sighs. He remembers high school, especially that fucking football player who shoved his head in the toilet. Even though Brian got his sweet revenge in the form of breaking the jock's fingers in a locker door, the sour taste of his taunting was not relieved.
"Hunter can stay. We'll take someone else."
"Hunter can't stay home by himself, either. Who knows what trouble he will get himself into if he's left unsupervised." Michael adds on.
"Fine." Brian finally gives in. "Leave Ben here with him. You and I will go."
"What about the comic book store?"
"You have employees for a reason! If I can leave Kinnetic, you can leave the store."
"That's different and you know it!"
With an exaggerated groan, Brian rises from the bed and wonders across the room to the dresser. Picture frames cover the surface. Some are from Michael's childhood that Debbie gave as a housewarming present. Some are just of Ben, or just Michael, or just Hunter, or just JR. Most of the others are of the family together. Hunter and Ben playing chess, Hunter and JR, Michael and Hunter laughing together. There's one that really tugs at Brian's heart, though. He picks up the black frame to examine the photo. It's of Ben and Michael standing in Deb's house behind her sofa. Ben is behind Michael, his arms wrapped around his lover as he kisses his cheek. Hunter is sitting on the sofa, looking up at his two fathers. Outwardly, he scoffs at the family portrait, but he can't convince himself that he isn't feeling a pang of jealousy. Justin's in New York, Mel and Lindsay are in Canada with Gus, and Michael is busy with his own family. Now he doesn't even have Babylon to fill his large amount of spare time.
I should have done things differently, he thinks to himself. The time with Justin. The time with Gus. I should have appreciated it more.
"C'mon, Michael." He sighs. He sets the frame back to its place and returns to the bed. He sits on the edge and rubs the back of his neck with his hand. He knows Michael is going to make him say it out loud. "It's lonely at home. I need to see my son."
The pair lock eyes, and Brian knows now that he's won. He can read him like a book. Michael lets out a defeated sigh.
"I'll get packing."
"I can't believe he talked you into this." Ben sighs as he settles in his chair at the table. Brian smirks as he cuts the stack of waffles on his plate.
"I can't believe you're not taking me!" Hunter protests. "I can miss some school."
"We already told you that you're not coming." Michael scolds his son.
"Actually, they were the ones that said you're not come," Brian clears up, pointing to Ben and Michael with his fork. "I was game for you tagging along."
"You're not helping, Brian!" Michael huffs.
"You just got caught up, buddy. You don't want to miss a whole week. It will put you behind again." says Ben. Hunter scowls, but his complaints end. "You and I can plan something fun this week while they're gone. Does that sound like fun?"
"Yeah, sure." He mumbles.
"Are you able to get a refund on those other two tickets?" Michael asks Brian.
"No, they're non-refundable."
"That's a bummer."
"Yeah. Unless we can find two others to come with us."
"There's someone right here." Hunter points out again.
"Hunter Novotny-Bruckner," Ben says before Michael can step in. "You were already told no. Please, do not bring it back up again."
"Fine." He grumbles to himself.
"What about Emmett and Ted?" Michael suggests, but is quickly shot down with a shake of Brian's head.
"No. I'm not taking them with us."
"Well, who did you have in mind?"
"We'll think of someone."
As the three older men discuss the details of the trip, the rising prices of airline tickets, and crappy airplane food, Hunter continues sulking. He doesn't want to hear about the plans Brian and Michael have made. Both Michael and Ben have made it clear that they both agree about him staying home, so there's no chance in getting one to convince the other that a week off of school won't be the end of the world for Hunter. Instead, it would actually be nice. He remembers how he proclaimed that he wouldn't let the taunting at school drive him away, but it's proven to be a tough promise to keep. He keeps that to himself, though, believing that there's no reason to worry his two new fathers. And something about Michael leaving to see JR without him or Ben makes him uneasy, another fact he won't tell his parents. JR is Michael's biologically and she isn't infected like Hunter. To him, she's a double threat.
"What about the moms?" Brian says, making everyone's head snap up towards him. Even with the short time he has known Brian, Hunter knows the strained relationship between Brian and his mother.
"You want to invite your mother?" Michael asks in disbelief.
"Fuck no," Brian scoffs and twist his face in disgust. "I'm talking about your Mom and Jennifer."
"Jennifer?" Ben continues the questioning. Brian shrugs.
"She was my almost mother-in-law. Besides, she probably would like to see her grandson." He mutters his last sentence, stands from the table, and grabs his empty plate. He makes a beeline for the kitchen sink, then the front door. One quick look over his shoulder reinforces his quick getaway. The three left at the table watch him with questioning eyes and their jaws on the floor. "I'm going to give her a call. Maybe she's up for a trip."
Michael's expression twists from one of shock, to one of anger as the front door slams shut. He gasps at Ben, who just rises his brows questioningly.
"Can you believe him?" He scoffs. "After all the shit he gave you and I, he wants to run off to call his mother-in-law?"
"You mean his almost mother-in-law." Hunter corrects with a smirk. He earns a harsh glare, but it doesn't discourage his amusement.
"Michael, it really isn't that shocking. He was effective by the bombing just like all of us." Ben explains. "It isn't very surprising that he is valuing his relationships more because of it."
Michael rolls his eyes, grabs his own empty plate, and follows Brian's path to the kitchen sink. Hunter jumps up and does the same as his younger father. Once he catches up with him, Hunter take advantage of the opportunity to agitate Michael again and gives him a playful smack on the shoulder.
"Have fun on your trip with Brian and his mother-in-law, Pops."
