Sickness & Health, Good Times & Bad

Post 513, the story starts after Justin spent 18 months in NYC before coming back to Pittsburgh 6 months later. Justin & Brian's relationship remained intact during the NYC sojourn. I do not own the characters just the situations.

Chapter 53

Claire woke up Wednesday morning with a terrible headache. The hospital has refused to give her a prescription for pain killers. When they got home Joan had ransacked her room looking for her stash of pills. Even after she found the few oxy that Claire had left, Joan continued to pull things out of drawers and her closet.

Claire sat up in bed and looked around her bedroom at the clothes, shoes and books that covered the floor. Claire wished desperately for some pills to take. She heard someone coming up the stairs. Joan walked into the room without knocking.

"Well I just wanted to let you know that the whole neighborhood knows about you taking drugs."

Claire got out of bed and started to pick her clothes up off the floor. "Did you tell someone?"

"Of course not but I could tell everyone in church knew. After mass Mrs Tancredi told me she was sorry to hear about your fall. She told me that the gossip in the neighborhood was that you were high on drugs and that was why you fell."

"Well I guess we know what that means. She'll tell Sally and I'll be out of a job."

Joan just turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Claire got out of bed and started to put her room back in order silently cursing her mother the whole time.

Brian was having a great morning at Kinnetik. He had his financial meeting with Ted and while their finances remained tight there was no need to touch savings or additional credit lines. Hal's computer continued to deliver information. Hal had saved several emails concerning his new job and the plan to get severance from Kinnetik before starting the new job. He has also saved some confidential business information in some directories on his computer. There were several new zip drives in his desk drawer. That made it apparent that Hal was planning to take some Kinnetik information with him when he left.

Brian, Cynthia & Patti met with Kinnetik's in house counsel who would send a letter to Hal letting him know what they had found on the PC he had used at Kinnetik. The lawyer was pretty certain that this would keep Hal from even thinking about coming after severance.

Brian was also able to get an appointment to make a presentation to a major new prospect in Chicago. He was feeling so good he decided to take on his sister.

He called Claire's cell. When his sister answered Brian suggested they have lunch together and talk about what was going on in her life and how that affected her sons. Claire sullenly agreed. Brian says he will arrange for a town car to pick her up at Joan's and bring her to an Italian restaurant near Kinnetik.

When Brian called Justin to tell him that he was having lunch with Claire his partner burst out laughing before wishing him luck. Justin hurried to tell Alice who was wide eyed with astonishment. 'Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Justin shrugged. "It will be an interesting lunch. I'd like to be a fly on the wall. We do need to know how Claire will react to Brian and I seeking permanent custody of the boys."

Justin checked on Gus and Peter who were watching a video before going back up to the studio. A paint splattered Justin was back downstairs at 11 to see how the second day of tutoring was going. Steve and John were both laughing as they came out of the dining room.

Steve had a big smile on his face when he saw Justin in his painting clothes. "I bet I can guess what you were doing this morning. Meanwhile John and I were working hard down here."

"I hope your work was as productive as mine."

Steve laughed. "I pretty sure it was. John is doing great. He is going to ace the placement test. No doubt!"

John looked a little embarrassed but mostly happy. Alice appeared from the kitchen with a cookie tin in her hands. "You enjoyed the cookies so much yesterday that I thought you might like to take some home. You said how much your sons would like them so I put some in this tin for you and your boys. Just a little thank you for helping our boy."

Alice put her arm around John's waist which increased his level of embarrassment but he did lean over and give Alice a kiss on the cheek.

Steve thanked Alice for the cookies and left. Justin collected Peter and Gus from the media room and they all had lunch before Justin and Gus took John to soccer practice.

John was pretty quiet on his way to practice but Gus managed to fill in any gaps in conversation. Justin got out of the car with John at the park. "Is everything okay? You seem kind of quiet."

John looked away as he answered. "I'm just …having some trouble …getting my head around having people care about and be interested in me."

Justin punched him lightly on the arm. "Get over yourself!"

John laughed gave Justin a return punch on the arm and ran off towards the practice field.

Brian was sipping his wine while he waited for his sister to arrive. When Claire came into the restaurant, bandage covering the stiches on her forehead, she looked around and spotting her brother walked over to his table.

Brian stood and pulled out her chair. "How are you feeling?"

"I have a headache but ibuprofen is keeping it under control. I'd love a glass of wine."

"I'm having a pinot noir is that okay with you?"

Claire nodded and Brian motioned to the waiter and ordered Claire's wine. Brother and sister looked over the menu avoiding conversation for as long as possible.

Once the waiter took their lunch orders Brian smirked. "What did Joan say about us meeting for lunch?"

"She didn't have much to say. I think she was kind of shocked which I understood. I am a little shocked myself."

Brian nodded. "Well I am hoping we can have a calm, adult conversation about your life, your issues and your sons."

"I guess I am wondering why any of those things are your concern."

"The first two are my concern because of the third. John and Peter have been living with us for a while and we are all pretty comfortable with the situation. The boys feel like their life has been full of uncertainty and they asked if Justin and I would try to get permanent custody of them."

"So you want to keep my sons. What are you offering me for them?"

Brian was genuinely shocked. "Claire I am not going to buy John and Peter."

"I don't understand why you think I will just give you my sons. I am having some problems in my life right now and you have obviously showered them with gifts and money. That does not mean that I am just going to hand two innocent boys over to you and your boy toy. My sons belong with their mother."

Brian smiled. "I have to remember to tell Justin that you still think of him as my boy toy. He'll enjoy that. Claire, let's be honest, your life has nothing but problems. Even before your drug use got out of control, from what your sons say, you were never a strong contender for mother of the year."

"You have had them for a few weeks with lots of help and suddenly you are the parenting expert. I struggled by myself for years ever since their father left us."

The waiter came with their food before Brian could reply.

"I appreciate your struggle and I do realize you had no support network to fall back on and I do have a large support network. I think the struggle perhaps got to be too much for you as the years went by. The boys do not feel like they can trust you after the year you all spent with Paul. The fact that you are still taking drugs frightens them and they do not want to go back to that lifestyle. They feel safe with us."

Claire ate some of her entrée and seemed to consider what Brian was saying. Brian also started to eat his lunch while keeping an eye on his sister.

Claire looked at her brother. "You alluded to something last night at the hospital. Have you been having me followed?"

Brian nodded. "That is what our lawyer recommended. I would prefer not tell your sons about the contents of the investigators report."

"You son of a bitch how dare you do that. I can't believe you would sink that low. How would you feel if someone invaded your privacy like that."

"Well they would not get any pictures of me giving blow jobs to drug dealers behind strip malls. The lawyer recommended that we needed to do this if we had any hope of getting permanent custody. She has a lot of experience with custody cases."

"I still think it was a shitty thing to do. I really don't understand why you are so anxious to take my sons away from me."

Brian sighed. "Claire your life is really fucked up. I do not want to see John and Peter wind up living with Joan. I did that so I know that is not a good thing. I think you are going to have enough trouble getting your own life in order. I don't see you ever being ready to have the boys live full time with you again."

"So I should just forget about my sons, sign away my rights and just let them live with you!"

"Claire this doesn't mean you won't be in John and Peter's life. I think they will be anxious to have you as a part of their lives as long as they are secure and feel safe. Honestly Claire their biggest fear right now is having to go back into a situation like they endured last year. Showing up high at your last scheduled meeting with them really frightened them. That doesn't mean they don't love you but they absolutely don't trust you."

Claire continued to eat her lunch and asked for another glass of wine when she finished the first one. Brian picked at his lunch while keeping one eye on his sister and wondering what she was going on in her mind and what she should say.

Finally Claire looked up a determined look on her face. "I will never give up custody of my sons. Do your worst brother dear. Do I still get driven back home?"

"I'm sorry you can't be more reasonable. I'll text the limo to pick you up."

Claire got up. "I'll wait out front. Thanks for lunch."

Brian shook his head and watched as Claire walked out the door. Lunch hadn't gone the way he was hoping. Brian paid the bill and went back to Kinnetik.

At home Justin and Gus spent time in the studio with Gus reading and Justin painting. Peter read on the patio until all three went to pick up John from soccer practice. After practice they stopped at Dairy Queen and headed home for pool time.

When Claire got home her mother was waiting for a full report on her lunch with Brian. Joan was, of course, outraged that Brian would want Claire to give up custody of her sons. Joan wanted to contact a lawyer and start proceeding to return the boys to their mother's custody.

Claire thought they should try to reason with Brian and she wanted to talk to John and Peter before she talked to a lawyer. They were still arguing about their next step when Claire's phone rang. Claire answered happy to have a reason to stop the conversation with her mother.

"Hello Claire. This is Sally. Do you have a minute to talk with me?"

"Sure, this is as good a time as any to get fired."

Sally sighed. "I'm sorry this hasn't worked out for you Claire. I knew yesterday that you were not acting right. The news is all over the neighborhood that you were on drugs when you fell last night."

"No need for proof. Just get rid of a potential problem."

"Claire that isn't fair. You have not exactly been a model employee but I tried working with you. Steve is a doctor and there is no way we can have a drug addict working in his office."

"Fine. I've been expecting your call."

"We'll pay you for this week. I'll send out your check tomorrow. I hope you can get your life in order."

Claire said goodbye and disconnected.

Joan started to complain about Claire's drug use and ask her what she was going to do now. Claire started to rub her temples.

"Mother could you please just give it a rest. I have a horrible headache and ibuprofen is just not helping. Just make yourself a nice drink and leave me the fuck alone."

Before a startled Joan could reply Claire grabbed her purse and was out the front door and walking quickly down the street. She glanced back to make sure Joan was not following her.

Claire walked to the shopping area and immediately headed to where she hoped to find a dealer. There was no one in the usual spot so a disappointed Claire started walking back to Joan's house.

When Claire was a couple blocks from her mother's house Tino pulled up beside her. "Hey girl. I hear you took a tumble last night. I thought after all this time you would know when to stop popping pills."

Claire walked around and got in the passenger side. "You don't have to worry. The police asked me where I got the pills and I told them I bought them on the North side. Of course now I'm out of a job."

"I heard you had a limo pick you up today. What that's all about?"

Claire frowned. "Sounds like you are keeping pretty close tabs on me. I'm not sure I like that. My brother invited me out to lunch today. He arranged for the limo to pick me up and bring me back home."

"Why not just come and pick you up at your house?"

"Brian always prefers not to have anything to do with Mother or even see her. He probably has a limo company on call."

"Why did he want to have lunch with you?"

Claire explained the purpose of the lunch and her reaction to Brian wanting her to allow him and Justin to assume permanent custody of her sons. She also mentioned her outrage that he offered her nothing in return even though he had plenty of money.

Tino was intrigued. "Just how much money does this brother of yours have?"

Claire rolled her eyes. "Brian is a millionaire not that I get any benefit from that. That's why my kids want to stay with him and his little friend. Those two gay boys buy everything that John and Peter want."

Tino suddenly got interested. "So your brother has a boyfriend?"

"Yes. He's probably the only person in the world that Brian really cares about. He's an obnoxious little shit, he knows he can get whatever he wants from Brian."

"Where does the boyfriend work?"

Claire gave a quick laugh. "He doesn't have a job. Justin is an artist with a studio at their house. He just fools around and paints when he feels like it. Brian pays all the bills. You should see their house it's huge. They repainted and bought a whole bunch of new stuff for the bedrooms my sons are using. They just want John and Peter for window dressing so they look like a normal family or something. There is no way I am letting them have my sons without a fight."

Tino smiled. "I think I have a way for us both to get some money from your brother. We kidnap his little friend. I get the ransom money and we split it after things die down. You can say you won the lottery or something."

"What do you mean we kidnap Justin. I can't get involved in that, he knows who I am."

Tino rolled his eyes. "Your part is to let me know this Justin's whereabouts. If you play it right you can get one of your kids to tell you what he's doing and where he's going."

"This is crazy. What do you know about kidnaping people?"

"Claire come on! You find out where this guy is going to be. I have a couple of my guys meet him there. They show him a gun, the little sissy pisses his pants and starts to cry and they grab him. We call your selfish brother and tell him to give us two hundred thousand dollars or we kill his ass buddy. I hold on to the money for a couple months and then we split it 50/50."

Claire was quiet for a couple minutes. "I don't want Justin to get hurt or killed."

"Claire this little faggot is not going to put up any kind of fight so there is no chance he'll get hurt."

"Okay give me a number where I can reach you. I know I can get Peter to keep me up to date on Justin's whereabouts without him suspecting anything."

When Brian got home his son and nephews were in the pool and Justin was sitting in a patio chair with his sketch pad on his lap. As usual when he sketched Justin lower lip was trapped between his teeth. Brian hated himself for thinking how adorable his Sunshine looked.

As usual Justin sensed Brian was nearby and turned towards him with a huge sunshine smile. He tossed the pad onto a table and hurried over to give Brian a welcome home hug and kiss.

"Brian you look happy you must have had a good day at Kinnetik."

"Good day at Kinnetik. Horrible lunch with my sister."

"She won't cooperate with custody?"

"Nope! She asked me how much we were willing to pay her for her sons."

Justin was wide eyed and couldn't think of anything to say. Brian laughed at the expression on his partner's face and said he was going upstairs to change.

Brian relaxed in the pool while Justin continued sketching until Alice announced dinner was ready. John and Peter were delighted to see that dinner was their favorite, fried chicken. It was served with sweet potato fries and green beans from the garden. Gus enjoyed eating in his bathing suit so he didn't have to be neat.

Brian was horrified but managed not to say anything when his son wiped his greasy hands on his own chest and moved on to a another piece of chicken. Justin laughed out loud at the expression on Brian's face.

A curious Gus looked over at him. "What's so funny Papa?"

"Your daddy is making funny faces at me. I'm not sure why."

Gus turned to his father. "You're silly Daddy."

"And you're messy Sonny Boy."

Gus just shrugged and continued to eat his dinner. After dessert of homemade pound cake with fruit and whipped cream on top Brian rushed his son to the bathtub.

All five members of the family watched a video until Gus fell asleep and his father carried him up to bed. Justin followed upstairs a little while later. The nephews got their regular job of making sure the house was locked up for the night and the alarm set before they went to bed.

John and Peter turned off the video after Justin left the room. They talked about their mother's latest escapade and the inevitability of their having to testify against her if they wanted to continue to live with their uncles. John was concerned this would be very difficult for his younger brother.

Peter surprised his brother with his grasp of the situation. "John I understand that we are going to have to talk about how bad things were living with Mom. I know she will react really badly, after all what mother wants her sons to prefer not to live with her.

I love Mom but I understand that she is never going to be able to really take care of us. She doesn't even take good care of herself. I want to stay here with the uncles maybe even more than you. "

The boys turned to playing video games before heading to their bedrooms for the night.