Brian was a little nervous, though he'd never admit it. The doctor had suggested that Justin get some exercise, in part, to soothe the aches of pregnancy with some endorphins and, in part, to help boost Justin's diminished energy levels. Brian had enthusiastically supported the idea, well, as enthusiastically as he got. Justin had fallen into the habit of staring at his naked form in the mirror every morning, sometimes for thirty minutes at a stretch. Each time, he scrunched his nose (very cutely). But of course, the nose scrunch signified displeasure. Brian thought it best to nip his fiancé's insecurity in the bud, if possible, and, if not, to continually beat it back.

So here they were. At the gym. One of Brian's former haunts. He did still come occasionally, but he didn't cum while here. He hadn't in almost three months. In fact, he usually brought Mikey and sometimes Emmy Lou and dead man walking to ward off tricks. But he'd never brought Justin here. Knowing that Brian had once been a manwhore was one thing, but seeing all the looks former tricks and hopefuls would shoot him, well, that was another story altogether. Plus, even though Brian had made a lot of progress on the whole 'relationship' front, his progress had yet to be tested in such a manner.

Brian glanced at Justin and couldn't help smiling (though he tried to hide it). He was as optimistic and innocent as ever, walking by Brian's side through the gym with a bright smile on his face. But…he hadn't wedged himself under Brian's arm (with his head resting on Brian's chest), as he was wont to do when they were 'about.' Maybe Justin was more aware of the significance of this visit than Brian imagined.

Brian stopped in the center of the main room and made a sweeping gesture. "So Sunshine, what do you feel like doing?"

Justin looked around and said, "Ummm…" as he tried to decide.

Unfortunately, Justin's nose took this moment to start bleeding again. The doctor had said that it was the result of increased blood flow from the pregnancy. Brian frowned and reached inside the pocket of his leather jacket, pulling out some Kleenex. The increased blood flow gave Justin permanently flushed skin (what Debbie called "a glow"). Brian didn't care for that term, but whatever it was, it was fucking hot!

Justin's smile faded. "Shit! Am I bleeding again?"

Brian just nodded. Justin took the tissue, dabbed at his nose, and then tilted his head back.

Without even thinking, Brian began to do what he always did when this happened, that is, he started rubbing Justin's lower back.

A tall buff man approached (from behind Justin and thus did not see his quite prominent belly), nodding and staring hungrily at Brian. The last time Brian had seen him, he was kneeling in front of Brian eagerly, but unskillfully sucking his cock.

Of course, once the former trick realized that Brian was rubbing someone else's back and that that person was pregnant, the man scoffed, "This isn't the hospital maternity ward. Maybe you should take the ball and chain elsewhere."

Justin stiffened, but said nothing.

Brian smiled, but his eyes glinted dangerously. "The ball and chain, as you have so artfully named him, so original, by the way, has more right to be here than you do. With your short skinny cock, your subpar cock-sucking skills, and your flat ass, I doubt you're getting much play. Why bother with a gym membership at all, least of all here?"

The man glared at Brian and muttered, "Fuck you, Brian," but then stormed off when Brian replied (with a big grin), "Maybe in your wet dreams. I wouldn't even let you jerk me off. Complete waste of time."

Justin leaned his head back forward (the bleeding had stopped) and smiled smugly.

Brian chuckled. "And what are you smiling about, Sunshine? You'd better be prepared to put your mouth where your sense of superiority is. It's been so long since you last sucked me off that I can't even remember it…was it good, bad, great, terrible…hard to say…"

Justin giggled and retorted indignantly, "It was only a few hours ago!"

Brian nodded slowly, a serious expression on his face. "I know."

Then he tilted his head and smirked. He drawled, "Why don't you refresh my memory?"

Justin smiled at Brian seductively and replied, "Sure. Right here?"

Brian laughed and pulled Justin (by the hand) toward the locker room. "Let's get changed and hit the sauna. I do some of my best work there…"

***************

After Justin had refreshed Brian's memory in the sauna (and Brian had returned the favor), Justin had swum a few laps in the pool (albeit at a very slow crawl) and taken a shower. Now he was dressing. Brian was waiting for him in the gym proper, talking to Mikey, who'd shown up while Justin was swimming.

Suddenly, two men walked into the locker room and headed to the next aisle to change. They hadn't seen Justin, so they chatted with abandon, not realizing that anyone could hear them.

"Did you see who he was with?"

Justin had finished dressing and was about to leave when one of the two men said, "Yeah! What a joke! Some pregnant kid."

Justin stiffened.

"Well, with the way he plowed through men, literally and figuratively, you knew it had to happen sooner or later."

Both men laughed. Justin frowned and sat down on the bench.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't expect Brian to be the type to do the responsible thing."

"I heard that he was an orphan or something. He must pity the kid."

"I suppose. Almost impossible to imagine Brian being even that kind. I feel a little sorry for Brian. I mean, he was always a selfish asshole, but, now, he's saddled with a boyfriend and a baby."

"Boyfriend? It's worse than that. Didn't you see the ring on his finger? Brian's going to marry him."

"How the hell did I miss that? Holy shit!"

"Yup. Now Brian has to buy a house and probably pay for his soon-to-be husband's college tuition. He's going to be knee-deep in bills, home-cooked meals, and diapers in short order. He can kiss his freedom goodbye."

"Can you imagine fucking just one person for the rest of your life?"

"Fuck no!"

"Me, either."

"Poor Brian."

"Fuck that! The bastard got what was coming to him."

"Maybe…"

Just then, the door swung open, and Brian entered.

The two men giggled and watched him curiously, but did not resume their chat.

Brian measured up the two men in the blink of an eye, scowled (neither of them would have been worth fucking, though, before he'd become monogamous, he might have let them suck him off), and then looked around searching for Justin. He smiled softly when his eyes finally met Justin's, which, of course, the two men did not miss. They both raised their eyebrows, almost comically, and exchanged a potent glance. They peeked around the corner to see what or who could put a smile on his face, but quickly retreated when they saw who it was.

One man whispered to the other, "The fiancé!"

They gathered their belongings as fast as they could and hightailed it out of there.

Brian looked back for a moment when he heard the men leave, but then turned to face Justin once more.

Grinning, he asked, "What's the holdup? You look like you're all ready to go."

Justin hadn't noticed Brian. What he'd overheard had left him in a daze. Justin was no fool. Brian was as hot as ever, but now, he was off the market, even for a one-night stand. That was bound to make people jealous and critical of the only person who was allowed to fuck or be fucked by Brian, especially after the moderate PDA they'd shown in the sauna. And his recent experience with Lindsay had proven just how cruel and conniving people could be when they were jealous.

But still…

Brian sat next to Justin and waved his hand in front of Justin's face, trying to get his attention. After a few moments, he finally succeeded.

Justin smiled weakly. "Sorry, I guess I'm a little out of it."

Brian chuckled. "You must be a little high from the swimming…endorphins and all that."

Justin nodded. "Probably."

Brian studied Justin's face closely, so closely, in fact, that Justin blushed a little and asked defensively, "What?"

Truth be told, Brian wasn't convinced that the swimming was the cause of Justin's spaceyness, so he was trying to read the boy, but he wasn't about to reveal that. Instead, he pulled a small bottle of lotion of his pocket and applied some to Justin's cheeks (his skin had been much dryer lately because of the pregnancy).

Justin smiled at first, but when the implications of that attentive act hit him, he frowned and moved out of Brian's reach. Then he grabbed the bottle out of Brian's hand and snapped, "You don't have to do that! I am perfectly capable of putting lotion on myself.

Brian was a little taken aback. Justin's mood swings did not typically involve anger, not at him anyway. When Justin observed the look on Brian's face, he shook his head. "I'm sorry. Must be the pregnancy hormones."

Justin reminded himself that Brian never did anything he didn't want to do, but after what the men had said, he wasn't entirely sure. Did Brian pity him? Or were the men completely off base…saying whatever would make them feel better about Brian now being off the market? Justin would need to ask Daphne. He couldn't trust his intuition for something like this. Not with all the hormones tearing through his veins. For now, Justin would let the matter rest, pretending that he hadn't overheard the two men's conversation, and just enjoy whatever attention Brian lavished on him.

Brian replied softly, "No need to apologize, Sunshine. Come on. We'd better go if we want to make it to Deb's in time for dinner."

Justin smiled brightly at that.

Brian laughed. "I should have known that all I had to do to get you moving was mention food.

Justin blushed and let Brian lead him outside.

A/N: The dinner they are going to is not Sunday dinner, just a meal Vic made and invited them to. The next part will begin with the weekly family meal...so you'll see the consequences of Lindsay's actions at the hearing as well as Lindsay herself next time.