A/N: This is the latest chapter (don't hate me - LOL!); couldn't resist - hope you can follow along...sorry!
One Week Before Issy's 9th Birthday
"Brian?" The voice sounded soft but urgent somewhere within Brian's sleep-deprived, somewhat muddled brain. He managed to mumble out something along the lines of "not now" through the cotton-like feeling in his mouth before he flinched from a sharp jab to his stomach. "Ow!" he muttered as he turned over to flop on his back and glare up at the intense blue eyes of his husband. "What the fuck, Justin? What was that for?"
Justin smirked. "It seemed to be the only way to get your attention. I need to talk to you."
"The only way to get my attention? If you think that's it, I'm definitely losing my touch." He suddenly felt a cold hand surround his cock and squeeze, making him literally buck off the bed. "Fuck – your hand's cold! Where has it been?"
Justin couldn't help smiling in satisfaction at Brian's reaction; it served him right, because he was perturbed at the moment. "IT has been down in the freezer checking for the ice cream cake someone was supposed to pick up last night on the way home from work." He reached once more to grab Brian's cock to emphasize his point before his hand was trapped by one of Brian's and the brunet brought it up toward his mouth.
"I think if you're going to play with a precious part of my anatomy, Little Boy, we'd better get this warmed up first," he murmured as he stared into Justin's sapphire eyes and slowly brought the pale, slender fingers up to his mouth. Justin gazed at the beautiful, tousled-haired man in front of him and, despite his initial annoyance over Brian not following through with his promise to pick up Issy's birthday cake, his breath hitched in anticipation as he watched Brian open up his mouth and his fingers disappear inside the wet, hot interior. He couldn't help the soft sigh that escaped his lips at the sensation as he felt Brian's tongue give his fingers a thorough bath of saliva. The sensation of his cold skin merging with Brian's warm mouth made his body tingle at the contact.
As he squirmed in pleasure at the masterful touch of his partner, he somehow managed to whisper, "I'm still pissed at you for forgetting, Brian." Brian had promised he would stop by the local grocery and pick up the custom-made, pink Princess cake for their daughter's birthday before he came home last night. Now, he would have to do it himself and somehow squeeze that in between picking up their daughter's birthday present, plus running out to purchase all the supplies they would need for the upcoming slumber party and whipping up the treats for her and her friends to munch on while they played video games and put makeup on each other and….just the thought of it all made his head spin. Or perhaps, he realized, the dizzy feeling might be due to the sensuous touch of the man who was currently rubbing the palm of his hand with his thumb and staring at him with those smoky, hazel eyes that knew exactly what they were doing – making him crazy with desire and horny as hell.
"I can still pick it up on the way home from work tonight," the brunet murmured huskily as he finally finished his tongue washing and slowly removed Justin's thoroughly-drenched fingers from his mouth. Justin curled his hand around Brian's as the brunet stared intensely into Justin's wide, baby-blue eyes and suggested, "Or I can go do it now." But he knew from the slightly glazed look of lust that he was getting that Justin wouldn't be opting for that alternative. "I think it would be a real shame to waste a morning after Issy spent the night at a friend's house, though, don't you?" He gazed up at his husband's flushed face and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Justin smiled; he knew he was being played, but if it resulted in some good old-fashioned fucking with a little bit of lovemaking mixed in and it involved this incredibly sexy man, he supposed he could make the sacrifice. "I think I can squeeze in a little time later today to take care of it," he decided, slowly raking his gaze down the magnificent, unclothed body and coming to rest on Brian's hardening cock. He quickly pulled his long-sleeved, gray tee-shirt up over his head as Brian reached over to begin unbuttoning his jeans.
He gazed up at Justin tenderly before saying, "Well, in the meantime, why don't you just squeeze something else again?"
Justin laughed as the brunet playfully pulled him down to lie on top of him, just before their lips molded together into a searing kiss.
Three Hours Later – Wheeling, West Virginia
Justin sat down wearily on a bench just outside the party goods store with three large, white plastic bags full of pink, lime green, and sky blue birthday supplies. He smiled to himself as he realized he and Brian would never have to worry about Issy becoming a tom boy as long as she maintained her current obsession with everything girly. Her laced canapy bed and dresser at home was decorated in the same colors, and she had begged him and Brian to hold to the same theme for her 9th birthday party.
He had gotten an inspiration for her theme inside when he had spied some plates in her favorite colors with a butterfly theme – he decided to fashion her party after the beautiful insect that reminded him of their daughter in a way – independent at times when she was absorbed in a favorite book or listening to one of her treasured CDs, but also still needing the guidance and love of her fathers and the reassurance that they would always be there for her. Thankfully, Issy still didn't mind them bestowing an occasional kiss on her cheek or giving them a hug when she greeted them, even in the presence of her friends. Justin hoped that she would always feel that way, but just in case, he was going to treasure each moment in the meantime.
He shifted his packages on his lap, taking care to hold firmly onto the large bouquet of butterfly-shaped latex balloons he held tightly in his left hand. Wondering how in the world he was going to fit them inside the SUV, he sighed as he rather stiffly rose to his feet and shuffled toward the parking lot and his vehicle.
A few minutes later, he exited the nearby grocery store with the ice cream cake firmly in his grasp; he placed the cake down on the ground long enough to open the back of the SUV and push the dessert into a freezer bag to keep it frozen until he could return to Britin. Making sure all of the party preparations were firmly placed in the trunk, he walked around to enter the vehicle and prepare to go pick up his and Brian's daughter at her friend's house nearby.
"Poppa!" Issy must have been anxiously waiting for him to come, because as soon as he had stopped the vehicle and gotten out, she had opened the front door and flew outside with her Princess backpack in tow. Justin smiled warmly as his daughter ran up to him and he threw his arms around her to give her a tight hug before letting her go to gaze into her excited blue eyes.
"How was your sleepover?" he asked.
"It was great!" she reported as she gave her father a quick kiss. "Jill said she'd bring over some of her CDs so we could use them at my party!"
Justin smiled as he brushed back some of her untamed hair; he and Brian had tried to convince her to have it cut because her hair was now cascading down her back and almost to her waist, but she had vehemently protested, saying she was growing it out to give to sick children who needed it. Neither man could argue with that intention, actually touched that their daughter would worry about such an issue; they decided she could do, instead, with a small trim. That still didn't mean, however, that her hair didn't always have a tendency to fall into her eyes as he tenderly placed some soft, golden strands behind one of her ears and gazed at her fondly.
"That sounds good, Honey," he told her, smiling. He looked over at the sound of the front door opening and nodded at Jill and her mother, Karen Andrews, coming out to stand on the porch nearby. "Hi, Justin," the petite, blonde-haired woman said as she placed a hand around her daughter's shoulder and waved.
"Hey, Karen," he acknowledged her. "Hi, Jill. I hope Issy wasn't any trouble. Thanks for letting her spend the night." If the woman only had an idea just how much he and Brian had enjoyed her hospitality in addition to Issy, he thought, blushing slightly at the thought. He and Brian had spent a good hour earlier today becoming completely re-familiarized with every inch of each other's bodies; they loved their daughter immensely, but part of being a parent involved not having as much time as they would like being alone. They had tried hard to make up for that deficit this morning.
"No trouble at all," Karen assured him. "Anytime. Besides, something tells me you'll have your hands full shortly. You're braver than I am, Justin," she said, laughing at the thought of two men being in the midst of 20 giggling, squealing, nine-year-old girls intent on not getting an ounce of sleep.
"Don't remind me," Justin quipped, thinking he must have been out of his mind when he and Brian had agreed to let their daughter have a slumber party. Before Brian could even think of an excuse not to be there, Justin had told him in no uncertain terms that he'd better not wriggle out of helping him or he would be sleeping in the guest bedroom for the next month. He had a feeling that Brian knew he would never make good on his promise – he craved their lovemaking just as much as he did – but fortunately for him, his husband had graciously played along and agreed, albeit somewhat reluctantly, to help supervise.
Jill laughed in sympathy. "Well, good luck – you're going to need it." She and her daughter gave Justin and Issy one more wave before father and daughter got into the SUV.
"Are we going to the pet store now, Poppa?" Issy asked excitedly, her blue eyes sparkling in anticipation as she dutifully buckled her seatbelt and Justin did the same.
He nodded at her and smiled; he had had to exert a great deal of pressure on Brian to allow Issy to have a pet for her birthday – he had fought it tooth and nail at first, saying they already had a horse for her; why would she need anything else? But Justin had explained that Issy longed for the companionship of a pet. Britin was rather isolated from other nearby homes, preventing her from spending a lot of time after school with her friends. Also, he and Brian had put their foot down when it came to Issy's request for a cell phone, telling her she was still too young to need one. So as a result, except for Girl Scouts and her recent stint in the school play, she did not have much of a chance to hang out with her friends except at school. She had maintained that having a pet would give her the company she needed, and also provide her with a chance to show she could be responsible for another living being.
After pouring on the "woe is me" routine – complete with baby-blue, teary eyes and pouting lips, she had finally worn Brian down eventually to where he had grudgingly given her (and Justin) permission to stop at the pet store and pick out a "low maintenance" pet. He had warned Justin that that particular definition automatically excluded a dog or a cat – he told him he didn't want anything that could roam, poop, and pounce at will onto unsuspecting inhabitants of the house, namely him.
That apparently, then, left them with the option of a fish, rabbit, guinea pig, or a turtle. It was only after they had gotten into the vehicle, though, that Justin discovered Issy had something else in mind.
"An iguana?" Justin stared at her aghast. "You want an iguana? Why an iguana?" He knew that was some sort of reptile or lizard, but apart from that, he really didn't know much about them.
"They're really neat, Poppa," Issy explained, her eyes sparkling in excitement. "They've got big scaly feet and get real big. They like to climb on refrigerators."
"Refrigerators?" She nodded her head as Justin glanced over at her from time to time as he drove toward the pet store.
"Yeah….Sara has one at home and said Louie likes to sit on top of the fridge until she feeds him lettuce."
"Louie?" He asked in amusement. Her iguana's name was Louie?
She nodded once more. "That's his name," she explained. "He was just a baby when she got him a year ago," she said in a remarkably adult-like voice. "But he ate a lot of lettuce and crickets and got real big. She had to get him a bigger cage and everything."
"Wait – back up," Justin stopped her. "Did you say crickets?"
His fears were realized as she confirmed that was what she said. "Yeah – you can buy big bags of them at the pet store – we can pick them up when we buy my iguana."
Thoughts of Brian freaking out when he opened the refrigerator to get a bottled water at Britin and spying a large, reptilian, scaly miniaturized Gila monster staring beady-eyed down at him from the refrigerator while dozens of crickets chirped nearby in a plaintive cry to be set free made him realize that he was about to break his daughter's heart. Why did it always seem to be his job when it came to that?
"Uh….Honey….I hate to tell you this, but I think you'll have to pick out some other kind of pet."
He knew his daughter well enough to feel her face clouding over before he had a chance to glance over at her to verify he was right. "I'm sorry, Issy – I know you have your heart set on getting one, but it wouldn't work, Sweetheart."
"Why, Daddy?" Her voice was decidedly young now as she gazed over at him in great disappointment. "I said I would take care of him."
Justin sighed as he returned his eyes to the road. "I'm sure you would, Issy, but you remember what your Daddy said. He only agreed to allow you to have a pet if it could be kept in a cage. It sounds like iguanas prefer to move around a lot." On the refrigerator, the kitchen table, on Brian's expensive leather couch…..I wonder if they like to take showers, too?
"He wouldn't be happy if he had to stay in a cage, and I have a feeling your Daddy never had a pet growing up. He just isn't comfortable with letting an animal roam free in the house." He hated to throw Brian under the bus with their daughter, but it was simply the truth. If it was up to him, he would have let her have a fucking zoo in the house; he loved animals but he loved Brian more…..
"But, Poppa…."
"No, Izzy," Justin told her firmly, turning to fix a steady gaze on her to emphasize he would not be changing his mind. "I'm sure the pet store will have plenty of other animals you can choose from. We'll find something else you'll like, you'll see," he promised her tenderly as he reached to grasp her hand and squeeze it. Issy's face was still wrinkled in disappointment but he knew as soon as they got to the pet store, she would forget her initial idea and quickly latch onto a cuddly bunny or a furry guinea pig – some type of pet that she could hold in her hand and keep safely caged, away from Brian's designer furniture and Gucci clothes.
90 Minutes Later
"I can't wait for Daddy to see him!" Issy cried as Justin walked into Britin with her new pet; he only wished he was as sure of that declaration as his daughter was. He had successfully talked her out of getting an iguana, but her final decision was one he hadn't anticipated. He only hoped that Brian would be receptive to her choice; it WAS in a cage, he rationalized to himself, which was Brian's main requirement.
"I'll take him up to your room, Honey," Justin told his daughter as he slowly carried the burdensome container up the steps. His daughter was toting a large plastic bag behind him full of pet food and toys to place in the cage under Justin's close supervision. He had told her adamantly NOT to open the cage when he wasn't around or place her fingers inside in case the animal tried to bite her. She had promised to obey his instructions until he had time to put the slumber party decorations away and place her cake in the freezer.
"Remember – don't put your fingers inside the cage or open up the door unless I'm there to watch," he reminded her. "I'll be back up in a few minutes as soon as I get dinner started. In the meantime, you think about what you want to name him, okay?"
She nodded excitedly, smiling as her eyes lit up with thoughts about what to name her new pet filtered through her head. "Okay, Poppa," she said, rushing to scurry around her father and rush up the steps toward her room. "I can't wait to show him to Daddy!"
As he placed the cage down on Issy's white dresser accented in shades of pink and lime green a few minutes later, he sighed. "Yeah…..I can't wait, either."
Mid-Afternoon – Britin
"Honey, I'm home!" Brian sing-songed facetiously as he walked through the door leading from the garage into the connecting kitchen. He placed his briefcase down on the nearby counter table and sniffed the air appreciatively. "Something smells good, Mary Homemaker, what's for dinner?"
Justin smiled from his place at the stove as he stirred a pot of jambalaya; ever since he had made it that one day so long ago, it had become a favorite staple of theirs. As he turned to accept Brian's brief but heated kiss, he thought that he might just need all the leverage he could get when he told his husband just what sort of pet their daughter had settled on at the store earlier today. "Taste," he said, holding out the wooden spoon with his free hand underneath to catch any errant spills.
Brian snaked his tongue out and took a quick slurp. "Mmmm," he murmured, licking his lips. "Tangy and sweet but just a little salty – just like something else I like." His eyes twinkled as he reached down to wipe a small smear of sauce from Justin's lips and bring it up to his own mouth to taste. He couldn't help leaning down to steal one more additional kiss from his partner as he placed his hands on either side of the stovetop to imprison his little chef. As he broke off their lip lock, he whispered, "Where's Issy?" Normally when he came home he was always greeted by a bundle of energy as their daughter came rushing down to greet him with a hug and a kiss, but it was noticeably quiet at the moment, except for the sounds of his and Justin's soft breathing and the bubbling of the sauce on the stove behind them.
He frowned as he noticed Justin hesitating to answer him. "Justin? Issy's all right, isn't she? Where is she? Did she stay at Jill's?"
"No, she's upstairs," he reassured Brian. He didn't get the opportunity to explain why she hadn't come rushing in to greet her father like she normally did, though, because at that moment he was interrupted by a high-pitched sound emanating from the upstairs.
"What was that?" Brian asked, frowning at the odd noise.
"What?" Justin said innocently.
"That noise; something squawked."
Justin let out a nervous laugh. "Squawked?'
Brian's eyes narrowed as he took in Justin's guilty look. "Yeah, squawked." He leaned in to stare into Justin's wide-eyed, blue orbs. "Justin? What have you done, Sunshine?" As if in response, an even louder squawk reverberated down from the bedroom area upstairs. "Justin…"
The blond stared nervously into the hazel eyes boring into him. "You told her she could get a pet as long as it was kept in a cage," he began as Brian broke his hold to turn and begin walking out of the kitchen toward the staircase. Justin quickly turned the knob on the stove to the "off" position before hurrying to catch up with his long-legged husband, following closely behind him up the steps and toward Issy's bedroom.
A few seconds later, Justin almost ran into Brian's back as the brunet came to their daughter's room and stopped dead in his tracks to stare at Issy's pet – a majestic green Amazon parrot with sky blue and yellow markings on its face. The parrot, about 15 inches long, was happily bouncing up and down on its wooden perch inside a large, rectangular-sized cage resting on top of Issy's dresser. There were toys of every description scattered throughout the cage and a large, oval-shaped bath tub on the bottom that looked suspiciously like a seven-jet Jacuzzi. The bird seemed to be fascinated with the mirror placed on top of the chest as he stared with large, beady eyes at his reflection. If there was such a thing, Brian would have said the intruder was muttering something under his breath as he scooted back and forth on his perch and bobbed his head to a silent tune.
"Daddy!" Issy cried out in joy as she turned away from watching the bird and launched herself at her father. "Look what I got today!" she exclaimed excitedly as she gave her father a hug and a kiss on the cheek before turning to stare back at Britin's latest resident. She pulled her father's hand toward the cage as Issy continued to ramble on exuberantly. "I'm going to teach him to talk and everything! Isn't he the prettiest thing you've ever seen, Daddy?" The bird shuffled over toward the sound of her voice as she neared the cage and stared inside at him, fortunately keeping a respectful distance from his rather imposing, curved beak. As he reluctantly neared the cage, Brian did his best to stare down the bug-eyed bird but it was to no avail; the feathered animal seemed to have no shred of either nervousness or intimidation as he stared back unblinking at his interloper.
"Yeah…He's something all right, Princess," Brian said evenly, trying hard not to let any expression show on his face as he turned to face Justin, his eyes raised in question. "This is your new pet?" Please…..let him be a loaner or something….a lost pet found and soon to be returned to its grieving owner….
But to his mortification, his daughter nodded her head in confirmation, just like the bird's. "His name is Petey. Isn't he wonderful?" she exclaimed as she began to bob her head up and down in synchrony with the bird, who imitated her movement perfectly as the bird began to squawk in excitement.
Brian covered his ears as the bird screeched in an ear-piercing cry. "Uh, Poppa…..Can I have a word with you out in the hall?" He turned to give his daughter a tender smile as he said, "We'll be right back, honey." He didn't wait for Justin to reply as he grabbed the blond's lower arm and pulled him quickly from the room.
"Justin, are you out of your fucking mind?" he hissed as they stopped halfway down the hall and he placed his hands on his hips in disbelief. "A parrot?" The bird suddenly issued another loud, earth-shattering screech as he winced in response.
"You told her she could have any pet she wanted as long as it was kept in a cage," he reminded the other man defensively. "She actually wanted an iguana first and I talked her out of it."
Brian had to admit – the thought of a slimy, scaly lizard slithering all over the house didn't fill him with joy at all…but a parrot? "Couldn't you talk her into a rabbit or a turtle or something…anything besides a fucking parrot?" He shook his head in disbelief. Of all the pets he thought his daughter might choose when he agreed rather grudgingly to let her bring one home, this was the last thing he had envisioned. "Do you realize how noisy and dirty those birds are?" One of his favorite watering holes in the Pitts – the Buccaneer – had kept a multi-colored macaw in a large cage near the corner of the bar, and the damn thing had squawked and stared at him intently whenever he stopped in as if he were checking him out. He finally had quit going there because he couldn't stand the noise and the bird freaked him out; now there was going to be one of those hideous creatures in his own house?
Justin's eyes flashed as he folded his arms over his chest and said, "That's what she decided, Brian, and she kept to your rules. If you don't like it, then YOU go in there and tell her he has to go back." He had already suffered through one disappointment at his daughter's expense earlier today when he had had to turn down her request for the iguana; he wasn't about to do the same thing again now.
Brian winced again as the bird once more let out a loud screech that resembled something like fingernails scratching on a blackboard. He sighed in defeat – he knew he could never go back into their daughter's room and disappoint her. All she had to do was plaster on that tear-stained face and turn those pink little lips down in heartbreak and he was a goner – just like when her father did the same thing. He turned to face his partner who was eyeing him intently as he waited for Brian's decision, although something told Brian he knew exactly what he was going to do – nothing.
"That bird had better go to bed the second that our daughter does, Mr. Taylor," he muttered finally.
Justin smiled in relief as he reached up to give Brian a sympathetic kiss. "The pet store says they need about 12 hours of sleep a night, so don't worry. Petey and Issy will go to bed together."
As they broke apart, Brian twisted his mouth and muttered, "They'd better," he warned. "Or we won't be."
Three Days Later – Sunrise
"Justin…..your cell phone's ringing," Brian mumbled in his pillow, nudging his partner with his elbow in an effort to get him to answer the incessantly-ringing contraption. "Will you answer the damn thing?"
Justin's eyes peered out through his overly-long bangs to reach out for his phone sitting on the nightstand, only it wasn't there; he remembered he had left it in the car yesterday. Besides, his phone always went to voicemail after four rings and this one was still ringing. So what was that noise?
He lifted his head up and listened for several seconds as Brian continued to curse under his breath for it to stop. Finally, he realized what it was and had to laugh.
Brian raised his tousled head up and snapped, "What is so funny, Justin - answer the fucking phone! Who would be calling you at this hour anyway? It's barely light out!" Before their pre-Issy days, it wouldn't have been so unusual; now, though, since their child had come along, staying out late partying and getting calls at all hours of the day and night wasn't so common anymore.
"It's not my phone, Brian," the blond told him giggling. "It's Petey."
Brian groaned as he dropped his head back onto the pillow in disgust. When Issy and Justin had brought home that winged monstrosity a few days ago, his main concerns had been how dirty and squawky they could be. He had completely forgotten how adept they were at imitating sound. Unfortunately for them, though, this particular bird had proven to be quite talented at quickly picking up on every sound he heard and replicating it in short order. Apparently, Petey had heard Justin's phone ringing off and on over the past few days and had wasted no time in duplicating the sound perfectly. "Shit," he muttered, as he placed his hands over his pillow and buried himself back into the mattress.
He tried to drown out the high-pitched tone but it was no use; after several seconds of struggling against it, he sighed more heavily this time and lifted his head up to peer into Justin's amused eyes. "This is NOT funny, Justin," he told his husband. "How can our daughter even sleep through all that racket?"
Justin smiled as he leaned down to take a playful nip at Brian's chin. "You know what a sound sleeper she is," he reminded him. "I guess she's just gotten used to it."
"Well, if Petey's up, then SHE should be up, too," he decided. "It's HER bird, not ours. That was the deal – she takes care of him. That includes socializing him properly…..and making sure he keeps his beak shut when I'm trying to sleep." He finally sat up in their bed and looked around. "Don't we have some duct tape around here somewhere?"
"Brian," the blond scolded him. "He can't help it – he's just doing what parrots always do – mimicking what he hears from others." He listened as he heard some cheerful squawking coming from down the hallway, followed by a voice distinctly saying, "I love you, Brian."
Brian rolled his eyes. "Oh, brother. Did you have to teach him that? The damn bird's turned into a lesbian now."
Justin smiled. "I didn't teach him that – he must have heard it when we were, well…..you know….."
"Shit. I thought you said that creature had to sleep for 12 hours a night. So why he is up at the crack of dawn like some fucking rooster?"
Justin shrugged, joking, "I guess he's just a bird of a different feather." As Brian snorted, he added in explanation, "Issy must have forgotten to put the cover over his cage when she went to bed."
As if on cue, Petey let out a couple of loud squawks and a few whistles before falling inexplicably quiet.
"Thank God," Brian groaned in relief as he fell back down onto the bed and blissful silence filled the room. He sighed and burrowed back into the pillow for several seconds and was almost fast asleep in moments when all of a sudden…..
"Harder! Faster! Awk!"
"Wha…..?" He bolted back upright in bed, noticing Justin stirring also as he heard Petey start up again.
The bird began to emit what sounded suspiciously like moans and grunts as he repeated his words from before just for good measure. "Harder! Faster! You like that? You like that? Awk! I love you, Brian!"
This time Brian burst out laughing as he peered over at Justin, whose face was a mixture of embarrassment and horror.
"Tell me I didn't just hear what I thought I heard," the blond pleaded.
"Well, you don't see ME fucking you at the moment, do you?"
"Harder, faster…Awk! I love you, Brian! I love you, Brian!"
"Shit! Brian – we can't have that bird repeating that in front of Issy! And – fuck! She's going to have all her friends over in two days for her slumber party and the first thing she's going to do is show them Petey! Shit! We can't have him repeating that in front of her – OR her friends!" He sat back up in bed and placed his head in his hands as he rested them on his elbows. He lifted his head after a few seconds to stare down into the amused face of his partner. "Is it possible to deprogram a bird?"
Brian guffawed. "I don't think so, Sunshine. It's not Petey's fault if you're too vocal when we fuck."
"Oh, so now you're defending him?" the blond retorted. "A few minutes ago you wanted to have him for dinner."
Brian's eyes twinkled as he replied, "I think I'm warming up to him now."
"Squawk! Awk! Oh, Yeah! Harder!"
Justin covered his eyes with his hands in total mortification. "I don't believe this." He raised his head to stare into the bemused face of his husband. "We can't let her keep that bird, Brian! What if the parents come to drop off their kids and hear him talking like that? This is bad – really bad. Didn't I tell you to keep the door closed when we fuck? But, no, you said it doesn't matter, Sunshine – Issy's not at home, Sunshine. It's hot when we fuck with the door open, Sunshine." He shook his head in embarrassment. "Well, maybe it was before we brought home a stool pigeon for a pet."
Brian snorted at Justin's look of dismay; he felt sorry for him in a way, but he had to admit – it was funny as hell. Talk about poetic justice…"Refresh my memory, Sunshine – I'm getting senile - whose idea was it to buy Issy a bird? Huh?"
"I know, I know," Justin snapped. "But now we have to figure out how to get rid of him!" He closed his eyes in indecision. He loved his daughter dearly and hated the idea of upsetting her, but unless there was a way to cure Petey of his eavesdropping habit – and wash his beaked mouth out with soap – they couldn't take the risk of someone overhearing his rather enthusiastic soliloquies. A sudden temporary solution occurred to him. "Maybe we could have my mom bird sit the night of the slumber party."
Brian snorted. "She already has a granddaughter she spoils rotten – I doubt seriously if she'll be too excited about having Petey over for company. Besides, all her neighbors would be up in arms over the noise. Even the mailman asked me the other day if we had a bird and he doesn't get any closer than the end of the driveway."
"He did?"
"Yeah….Well, his actual words were – 'Did you just get a bird or are you skinning cats alive in the house?' I don't think he considered it music to his ears."
Justin gazed at him dryly as Petey let out another screeching squawk. "I wonder why."
Looking at Justin's miserable expression on his face, Brian took one of the pale hands in his and said, "Listen, Sunshine. At least we don't use the 'F' bomb when Issy's around and apparently at least Petey hasn't added that particular word to his repertoire yet. If we're careful, the most he'll come up with is what he's already said. That's not too bad – except for the 'I love you, Brian' part; I could do without that one. But we can just put Petey upstairs in your attic studio until the girls are all gone and bring him back down afterward. Issy won't really understand what he's saying anyway. You're blowing this out of proportion, Justin," he assured his husband, who was looking more miserable by the second. "It'll be okay, you'll see." He snorted softly and shook his head in amazement. "I can't believe I'm actually sticking up for that bird brain."
"I love you, Brian! Awk!"
Brian sighed as Justin finally grinned at the bird's impeccable timing. "Now go shut the door and let's (he lowered his voice so there was no way Petey could hear) fuck."
