The Next Day – Pittsburgh International Airport – 2:00 p.m.

Jennifer anxiously sat on the hard, plastic airport lobby chair, waiting for her son and Brian's arrival. Her encounter with Carl yesterday at the diner was weighing heavily on her mind. No matter how hard she searched her brain, she couldn't for the life of her figure out what that man had done now. After all, he was in prison. What could have been so critically important that Carl needed to see the two men shortly after they landed? She sighed – would this whole terrible episode in her son's life ever be over? She glanced for the fourth time at the "Arrivals" board to confirm their plane was still on time; as she observed that it was, she didn't know whether to be glad for that fact or not.

"Mom!" She looked over at the security exit just then to see her son and Brian rushing toward her, Justin excitedly tugging Brian by the hand, who graciously allowed the younger man to pull him. She noticed how happy her son looked, and despite Brian's rather nonchalant expression, she suspected he was just as happy, too. She stood up with a large smile on her face as she met her son halfway with a strong embrace, instantly wrapping her hands around the slender back and giving him an affectionate squeeze.

"Sweetheart – it's SO good to see you!" she gushed, as she reached up to give him a small kiss on the cheek. He was positively beaming with contentment and his eyes were shining. She was so heartened to see how calm and relaxed he seemed. Even Brian, who she noticed had gotten a flattering tan during their trip, looked well-rested. She didn't miss the unmistakable look of love that was conveyed as the brunet glanced over at his partner, his eyes softening with tenderness. She was so thankful the two of them had each other for support – something told her that in all likelihood they would need that bond to hold onto this afternoon.

"Hey, Jennifer," Brian greeted her with a smile; he bent down to reciprocate Jennifer's greeting to Justin as he loosely grasped her shoulders to give her a quick peck on the cheek before releasing his hold on her.

"Brian," she responded warmly. Over the years, she had come to regard Brian fondly; he had been so supportive of her son, especially during the past year with his terrible experience regarding Prescott.

"I guess I don't have to ask how your trip was," she said as she studied both men. She noticed Justin actually blushed a little for some reason; no doubt his partner had kept him quite occupied during their trip. She knew if Brian Kinney was one thing when it came to her son, it was insatiable. Even after all these years, he couldn't seem to get enough of her son, which was fine by her, because she knew the feeling was definitely mutual as far as Justin was concerned.

"It was great, Mom!" Justin verified enthusiastically, as all three began walking toward the airport tram. "The weather was wonderful and the place Brian picked out for us to stay in – it was unbelievable! Wait until you see the pictures I took – you won't believe it! It was up on a cliff overlooking the Aegean Sea with this spectacular view of the ocean! We went scuba diving, sailing, not to mention the cruise we took to Delos……"

Justin excitedly continued to regale his mom with all the details of their trip as they rode on the train to the baggage claim area, barely stopping to come up for air.

"Breathe, Justin," Brian kidded him, as his husband finally had to stop briefly to take a breath. "Give the other passengers a break here," he commanded tongue-in-cheek as the train slowed to a stop at their destination and they stepped out. Justin stuck out his tongue maturely as Jennifer laughed at their good-natured bantering.

"Why don't you and Brian come over for dinner tomorrow night?" she suggested. "You can bring your pictures with you and tell me all about your adventures then," she declared with a smile as she placed an arm around her son's shoulders while they walked.

"Better be careful what you wish for," Brian growled. "It will make Mikey's slide show he gave us on Paris look amateurish by comparison. Ow!" he complained, as Justin gave him a sharp nudge in his side.

Jennifer laughed as they reached the baggage claim area. She would never get tired of seeing her son and his partner so happy; they both deserved it after what they had been through this past year. She tried, instead, to push her concern over their pending meeting with Carl to the back of her mind and concentrate on how content they both seemed at the moment.

As they waited for their luggage to arrive, Jennifer turned to her son to note, "You haven't said much about Vermont. You told me the two of you stopped there the first night before flying to Greece. How was it?" She asked.

She noticed a conspiratorial look pass between the two men. "What?" she asked, somewhat puzzled. Concerned, she pressed, "Did something happen there?" She relaxed somewhat, though, as she noticed a mutual, tender smile appear on both their faces.

At Justin's unspoken question to him, Brian nodded slightly; they had discussed this eventuality on the way home and decided to let Jennifer know first. "Something happened there, all right," Justin confirmed, now smiling openly. She was about to push him to explain what he meant just before he noticed one of their suitcases coming toward them; when he reached out his left hand to grasp the handle and pull it off the carousel, she suddenly didn't need an explanation.

She gasped as she saw the gleaming band of platinum and silver on her son's hand. "Oh, my God!" she cried, tears springing to her eyes. "You didn't!" she cried.

Brian cringed a little at Jennifer's over-the-top display of emotion; he noticed nearby airline passengers looking over inquisitively at the sound of her boisterous display of emotion. He supposed this was going to the norm, however, until the rest of their friends found out about their wedding. He didn't want to even think about Debbie's reaction – he made a silent pact to make sure when they told her, it wasn't in a public place if at all possible.

Justin smiled even more broadly as he reached over to grab Brian's left hand and hold it up with his. "We did," he announced gleefully, waving their linked hands together as Brian smirked.

"Oh, Honey!" she cried, throwing herself again into his arms to bestow a fierce hug upon him. "I'm SO happy for both of you!" As she released her son, she repeated the same action with Brian, who somewhat reluctantly allowed her to hug him firmly before he politely disengaged himself.

As the brunet reached over and grabbed their final suitcase, Jennifer crooked her arm through her son's and leaned into him as they walked from the baggage claim area toward the exit doors. "Details," she said excitedly. "I want all the details." Brian shook his head in amusement as mother and son walked in front of him, his presence temporarily forgotten as they immersed themselves in their conversation.

"Mom," he heard Justin murmur, a little embarrassed. "I can't tell you everything," he advised her, causing Brian to smile. No matter how much Jennifer thought she knew about them and their unconventional, extremely active sex life, if she knew ALL the details, she would definitely be blushing as red as a beet. Best that Justin wisely decided not to tell her all of it, then.

"Well, I know what we'll do," Jennifer animatedly told her son as they reached her sedan. "We'll turn your dinner tomorrow evening into a celebration! Would that be all right?" she asked both of them, directing her glance mainly at Brian, however. She knew Justin would in all likelihood have no objection to it, but she knew how Brian could be when he came to overt displays of emotion. This would probably wind up being the be-all and end-all example of that.

Brian noticed BOTH Taylors looking at him expectantly; even if he didn't already know, anyone could tell they were mother and son by the identical hopeful expressions on their faces. Sighing and knowing when he was outnumbered, he curled his lips under briefly and reluctantly answered, growling, "What the hell – they have to find out sometime," before Justin launched himself exuberantly into his husband's arms, wrapping his slender arms around the other man's neck and showering him with light kisses.

As Brian reciprocated by enveloping the blond in his arms as well, Jennifer's heart soared at the obvious love the two men shared. And the fact that the two had finally gotten married was the icing on the cake. She tried to forget for the time being that she needed to tell them about Carl's request for a meeting; they looked so happy, she hated to even broach the subject. But she knew she was going to have to tell them; she only hoped whatever it turned out to be, they could deal with it quickly and move on to more joyful events.

As the three of them settled into Jennifer's car, with the two men in the back seat, she sat behind the steering wheel for a few seconds, not making any move to start the car. The two newlyweds were so engrossed in staring at each other and leaning in for a kiss that they didn't notice at first they weren't going anywhere. Finally, after they broke apart, Justin turned to look at his mom's face staring back at him in the rearview mirror – a face that had changed from happy to concerned for some reason. "Mom?" he asked her. "What is it?" He knew it couldn't possibly have anything to do with his and Brian's marriage – he was certain that nothing would have made her any happier than to finally see the two of them wed.

She bit her lip a little and cursed inwardly; she had promised to do her best NOT to get the two men upset over her news, but she should have known her son would see right through her anyway. She never was good at hiding her feelings from him.

"Mom?" Justin repeated, as Brian now turned toward her as well. Sighing a little, she finally turned around enough to face them in the back of the car. "There's something I need to tell you," she said softly. "I have a message from Carl."

"Carl Horvath?" Justin asked with a hint of trepidation, even though he realized that was the only Carl he knew.

"Yes," she verified. "He…..needs to see the two of you later today down at the police station. He asked if you could meet him there around 4:00."

Brian and Justin exchanged surprised looks. "Did he say what he wanted with us, Jennifer?" the brunet asked.

"No……..Not really."

"Mom……." Justin could tell she wasn't quite telling them the whole story.

She pressed her lips together a little and sighed. She finally told him quietly, "The only thing he told me was that it was......about him." She hated that man with a passion and didn't want to give him the respect of saying his name out loud; besides, she could think of a lot MORE descriptive names to call the man who had tormented her son for the last several months.

Brian, however, had no such reservations. "That fucker? Prescott?" he growled, as Justin closed his eyes in pain, the vision of his pursuer instantly ingrained in his head. He had actually been able to keep Prescott out of his thoughts and dreams during the past three weeks while he and Brian had been away; now, just the mention of the man's name brought it crashing back to him in a heartbeat.

"Yes," Jennifer confirmed, as she reacted sorrowfully to her son's troubled look. "I'm sorry, Honey," she said to her son sympathetically. "I know you two just got back, and I hated like hell to have to give you his message, but he said it couldn't wait and I promised I would. He wants to see the two of you privately."

Justin let out a nervous breath, as Brian reached over to take his hand in his. "Now let's not jump to conclusions, Sunshine," he said evenly. "We don't even know what he wants – it could just be some type of technicality or something as mundane as unfinished paperwork. It's not worth getting all fucking hot and bothered about it. Okay?" he tried to place a reassuring smile on his lips as Justin looked at him doubtfully; he could tell by the look on his husband's face that he wasn't quite buying it.

"At any rate, we won't know until we meet with him," Brian added sensibly, giving Justin's hand a gentle squeeze of comfort before releasing it. "Mother Taylor, why don't you take us back to our loft like we had planned and we'll drive ourselves on down to the station? That makes more sense, anyway, since it's in that direction."

She looked over at Justin to gauge his reaction. He shook his head slightly, as if he was having difficulty believing they were having to deal with his antagonist once again. "That's fine," he told his mother. "Let's just get it over with." Whatever IT is, he thought with dread. And to think I thought this man was harmless.

As Jennifer started the car and drove toward the parking lot exit, Brian glanced over at his husband, the worry clearing showing on his face. What should have been a happy occasion and a cause for celebration among their family and friends had abruptly been marred by this unexpected turn of events. Well, you fucker – I got news for you: you are NOT going to spoil this for us. He reached over with his arm to wrap it protectively around Justin's slender shoulders, pulling the other man toward him as he did so. Justin did not object; in fact, he immediately curled up against him, resting his head on Brian's chest and letting out a soft sigh. He placed his smaller hand directly over the brunet's heart, which at the moment was aching; Brian never could bear to see the man he loved so deeply in emotional pain, and could tell that Justin was extremely concerned about what Carl's meeting would disclose. He leaned over to brush a tender kiss on top of the soft, blond head and whispered, "Whatever it is, Sunshine, we'll get through it together – I promise," he vowed firmly. J ustin's only response was to snuggle even more deeply into the other man's side and move his free hand down until he was tightly grasping Brian's.

Jennifer glanced back in her mirror, observing the two men surreptitiously. She smiled softly, despite her great apprehension over what Carl needed to speak to them about. Her son and Brian were quietly cocooned closely together in the back seat, their heads touching and their hands clasped together. They were so in love, and the great Brian Kinney's heart had obviously been captured firmly by her son. But her son's heart was just as much a captive to the other man's. If anything could get them through whatever Carl had to tell them, it was their enduring love for each other.

The ride back to the loft was a fairly uneventful one; the time difference and long flight home from Greece had apparently taken its toll on both of the men. After a few minutes, Justin closed his eyes and appeared to have fallen asleep against Brian's chest. Brian, too, closed his eyes but remained awake, his thumb absently caressing Justin's shoulder from time to time reassuringly. He kept the rest of his body still until Jennifer finally slowed down in front of their loft and came to a stop.

"Justin?" Brian whispered, giving the other man's shoulder a slight squeeze. "We're home, Sunshine," he announced quietly, as the blond's eyelids slowly fluttered open. He was disoriented for a few seconds before he slowly raised his head and sat upright in the car, realizing they were back in Lawrenceville. The two men opened the back doors and stepped out into the bright sunshine; the early spring day back in the States was supposed to be an unusually warm one today.

As Jennifer popped the trunk open so they could retrieve their luggage, she stepped out briefly to join them. "Is dinner still on for tomorrow?" she asked them uncertainly. She felt it was important to invite their closest friends over, along with Justin's sister, to share in their celebration, but only if they were up to it. "Maybe you would like to wait until…..?" She left the question unsaid.

"No," Brian informed her firmly without hesitation. He was NOT going to let Prescott spoil their happiness; it didn't matter WHAT Carl had to tell them. He was NOT going to let that son of a bitch spoil what he and Justin had built so hard to achieve. He looked over at Justin for confirmation. "We'll be there, Jennifer," answering for both of them. "We have a LOT to be grateful for." Justin slowly smiled and nodded in agreement. "It's still on, Mom. No matter what. I think it's time we shared some good news for a change."

Jennifer placed a kiss on both of her "boys," and smiled. "I couldn't agree more," she stated. She knew she would be dying of curiosity to find out what Carl had to tell them – and so would Debbie, no doubt – but she was confident they would tell her in due time, and when they felt ready. For now, she would concentrate on calling all of the two men's closest friends to share in their happiness, Prescott be damned.

"Well," she said in dismissal. "I've got a dinner party to organize, so I'd better get busy. How does 7:00 sound? That will give you two some time to rest up before the big announcement tomorrow. You know once Debbie finds out your wonderful news in particular, they'll be no stopping her."

"Yeah, we won't need any fucking wedding announcement in the local paper – we'll just tell our own private Barbara Walters – it'll be around the Pitts in 24 hours flat," Brian joked.

Justin grinned. "Yeah, cheaper and quicker," he agreed. "But just think of all those tricks whose hearts are about to be broken."

"I got news for you, Kiddo," Jennifer remarked to her son. "Those tricks were out of luck a LONG time ago," she commented knowingly. She noticed that Brian smirked a little in response, but he did not make any move to contradict her statement. She gave both men a small wave before walking back to re-enter the car and drive away.

The two newlyweds were finally alone once again. Justin sighed, trying unsuccessfully to avoid thinking about their impending meeting with Carl at the police station.

"I can hear the thought wheels turning, Sunshine," Brian gently chided him, as he picked up their two pieces of luggage from the sidewalk. "Don't dwell on it – let's take the luggage inside and sit down for a few minutes." Glancing down at his watch, he added, leering, "If your perky little ass can pick up the pace a little, we've even got time for a quick fuck in the shower."

"Brian," Justin murmured, his eyes peering up at his husband lovingly. "You are such a slut for my body," he teased as they reached the loft entrance door.

"You bet your ASS, Sunshine," he retorted. "And your cock, and your cute little button nose, and your chest, and….."

"I get it, I get it," Justin laughed, as he playfully punched the other man in his side; Brian doubled over as if he were severely injured in response. It felt good to laugh, and he had the other man to thank for that. Somehow he knew that no matter what Carl would divulge to them, there wasn't anything they couldn't overcome as long as they were together – they were fucking unstoppable.

As they opened the door to their loft and placed the bags inside the foyer, Justin tugged on the other man's arm urgently. "Well, come on, Mr. Kinney, I'll race you to the shower," he purred, as he took off in a dead run up the spiral staircase, the other man close on his heels.