"Oh my god, Justin!" Daphne yelled at her best friend; who seemed to pick now as the best time to become ignorant to her rather obvious declaration. "Do you know what this means?"
"That I made some kickass soup?" Justin asked as he continued washing the dishes.
"Are you dense or are you screwing with me? I tell you the last time I ate vegetables like this was when I was pregnant with Suvi and you think it's because of your culinary skills?" Daphne threw her arms in the air.
Justin's submerged hands stilled as he slowly turned around; water and suds pouring down to the granite tile beneath his feet. "Daphne, what are you saying?" He nearly shrieked; his eyes growing wide.
Finally, he seemed to understand. "I'm saying I might not need to wait until tomorrow to take this damn test."
Justin held his hands out in front of him and took a few deep breaths. "Ok, we need to make sure we stay calm. Where are the pregnancy tests?" Suvi watched curiously from her seat at the table as Justin started pacing the perimeter of the kitchen.
Daphne shrugged. "I don't know, where did you put them after you bought them?"
"I didn't buy them, you did!" Justin countered in a rather high-pitched voice.
"I didn't buy them, I thought you did." Daphne's voice rose even louder.
Justin flailed as he tried to regain control. "Ok, ok, stop. Obviously neither of us bought the tests, and we sure as hell know Brian didn't. So that just means we need to run to the store and buy one."
"Ok, let's go." Daphne agreed as the two quickly exited the room and ran out the front door.
Seconds later, Daphne ran back in, her cheeks a dark shade of red. "Mommy is so sorry, baby." She cried as she scoped up the confused child and ran back out to the waiting car.
"I can't believe you forgot her." Justin laughed, shaking his head.
"It's not funny, asshole. Besides, you didn't remember either. I got so swept up in everything." Daphne explained as she buckled Suvi in to her booster seat before buckling herself in. "Go!"
The entire trip to the store felt like it took both days and seconds as Justin's mind raced with so many questions and thoughts he didn't even remember actually driving from point A to point B. Daphne quickly unfastened Suvi's restraints. Running in to the small store, Daphne quickly found the isle they were looking for as the duo gaped at the vast number of pregnancy tests laid out before them.
"Which one do we get?" Justin wondered quietly. "One of each?"
Daphne searched the boxes before pulling one from the rack. "This was the brand we used when I took the test for Suvi."
Justin grabbed a handful, shrugging his shoulders when Daphne stared at him in amusement. "What? I want to make sure, either way."
Rushing to the counter, the duo was out of breath by the time Justin threw the boxes on the counter. Daphne shifted Suvi to her other hip as Justin pulled out his wallet.
The cashier, a young college-aged, Gumby-looking guy smirked as he looked between the two and then to Suvi. "You'd think this was your first time at the rodeo?"
The pair laughed lamely to humor the guy, not wanting, nor caring, to explain their rather unique situation to the clueless man. Not bothering with pleasantries, Justin grabbed the proffered bag as they ran back out of the store.
The ride back was much the same, though Justin had made sure to pay closer attention to his driving. Yeah, he was excited and nervous beyond anything he had ever felt in his life, but he had Daphne and Suvi in the car with him. They all needed to get back home in one piece.
"Are you going to be able to pee enough for all those tests?" Justin laughed as he looked over to his best friend who sat beside him, her legs bouncing up and down wildly.
"I'm going to have to drink a lot of water when we get back to the house, that's for sure." Daphne explained as she looked back to Suvi who had mercifully decided now was the best time for her afternoon nap. "Thank God. At least she'll be out while I take the tests. I'm going to be enough of a nervous wreck as it is."
Once they reached the house, Justin tossed the keys to Daphne as she unlocked the front door and entered the security code. Justin gingerly extracted the sleeping child from her booster seat and entered the house; heading upstairs, he laid her down on his and Brian's bed.
Racing back to the kitchen, Justin found Daphne by the sink drinking a large glass of water. "How many of those have you drank?"
Daphne held up three fingers.
"Christ, when all of that hits, it's going to be like Niagara Falls."
Daphne flipped him off.
Ten minutes later, Daphne sat squirming on the corner of the bathroom counter as Justin read the directions aloud.
Twelve minutes later, Justin nervously waited outside the bathroom; pacing in front of the door.
Fifteen minutes later, Justin and Daphne lay on their backs on the bathroom floor with five tests spread out around them and a timer ticking away by their feet.
"What if it's positive?" Justin asked, not even attempting to hide the amazement in his voice.
"That would be so fucking awesome if it worked the first time out." Daphne smiled as she fidgeted with her fingers that lay restless over her stomach. Justin pushed himself up so he could get a clear view of Suvi still asleep in the large bed. She looked as big as a puppy in the middle of the oversized mattress. Laying back down, he blindly grabbed for Daphne's hand. "Two more minutes."
The pair fell silent, prepared to ride out the remaining time lost in their own thoughts.
When the timer finally sounded, they looked to each other once more before slowly sitting up, neither venturing to look at the test just yet as their eyes remained locked on each other.
"Ready?" Justin coaxed as Daphne nodded her head. They both looked to the floor.
1…2…3…4…5
"They're all positive." Justin whispered as he counted them all one more time.
"I think that's our answer." All the air seemed to leave Daphne at that moment.
"We did it." Justin pushed himself over so he could lean against the cabinets under the double sinks. His knees raised to his chest, his head in his hands. Daphne followed; her eyes large and unfocused.
"What do we do now?" Justin whispered once more as he looked to Daphne, whose only response was to shrug her shoulders. "You've done this before!"
"Not like this." She countered in a high-pitched voice.
Grabbing his best friend's hand once more, Justin breathed in deeply. "Ok, we are grown adults. Let's think about this logically. First we tell Brian. Then we need to call the clinic and set up the confirmation pregnancy test. Then we have to decide if we are going to tell everyone else or not. An ultrasound in two weeks. Then we have to start getting the nursery together. Oh my god, there is so much stuff we are going to need to get…" Justin rambled, his voice rising with each word that escaped his mouth.
Daphne was afraid she was going to have to slap her best friend.
First, she would try to simply shake some sense in to him. "Justin. Get a hold of yourself! We are literally at week two, we've got 38 more to go. Breath!"
Justin shook his head at his friend's rational words. "You're right. First we need to tell Brian. Should I call him on his cell, or wait until he gets home?"
Before Daphne could answer, they heard the distinct sound of a car door shutting. Jumping to their feet, they made sure Suvi was still asleep as they ran out of the room.
Brian knew the deadline had approached for their two week wait to find out if Daphne was, in fact, pregnant or not, so he had worked things around at the office to be able to leave earlier than normal. Knowing that they would be anxious to find out one way or the other, Brian had hoped to be there in case the results were not what they had hoped for. Justin had put on a brave front about his expectations, but Brian knew the man better than he knew himself. He was past the point of no return. A negative result would be devastating to both Justin and Daphne.
Walking slowly in to the foyer, Brian listened for any noise that would steer him in the right direction, only to be met, initially, with unusual silence. As he placed his briefcase on the leather couch in the great room, he could hear what he could only describe as a pack of wild dogs descending upon the room as first he saw two sets of feet plowing hurriedly down the stairs. Daphne was in the lead but Justin was close behind; the huge smiles on their faces let him know something was up. As Daphne ran towards him, her arms flew out on either side of her and Brian could distinctly make out the pregnancy test she was gripping in her right hand.
"We're pregnant," she screamed as she acted to throw her arms around Brian.
Dodging her advances, Brian ducked to the left and then quickly to the right as he hurried to distance himself from the flailing woman. "Don't touch me with that!" Brian huffed, pointing at the stick in her hand, as he deliberately stood so that Justin was perched between him and Daphne.
Justin laughed when Daphne realized what Brian was talking about and hid the test behind her back. "Did you hear what I said? We took 5 tests and they were all positive." Quickly running to the kitchen to throw the pregnancy test in the trash, Daphne hurried back out.
Justin was now giggling uncontrollably at the sour expression on Brian's face.
"Wash your hands before you touch me!" He warned. Daphne rolled her eyes.
Justin finally controlled himself enough to look to his husband, his eyes dancing with unhindered happiness. "Can you believe it? It actually worked. We're really going to have a baby."
Brian couldn't stay mad about the urine indiscretion when he saw the water pooling in the blonde's eyes. "That's pretty fucking fantastic, Sunshine." Brian relented as he wrapped his entire body around his husband's smaller frame, burying his head in the blonde's neck. His lips connected with the soft skin just behind his ear causing his breath to flutter. Pulling back to look in to his husband's expressive eyes, he cupped the side of his face; running his thumb along the defined contours of his cheek.
Giving the men a moment, Daphne started to walk away to go wash her hands as requested, but not before she threw over her shoulder, practically singing with delight. "Justin touched the tests too."
"Fuck!" She heard Brian growl out as Justin lost himself in another fit of giggles.
[o][o][o][o][o]
Over the next hour appointments were scheduled and ideas were hatched. They decided to hold off on telling the rest of the family until after the confirmation test at the clinic in two days, but knew they wouldn't be able to wait much longer after that.
"I already kind of know what I want to do for the nursery." Justin scrunched his face in response to the amused looks he was receiving from Daphne and Brian. "I want something clean and elegant."
Daphne threw a throw pillow at him. "Justin we don't even know the sex yet. That's like, at least 3 months away."
"I know, but I was thinking mint green and dark brown, then depending on the sex I can accent with either pink or blue, or both." Justin's eyes lit up. "I'm actually not even sure if we are going to find out the sex before or not. What do you think, Daph?"
"It's totally up to you guys." Daphne shrugged.
"Brian?"
Brian shifted his gaze from the mock-up boards he was looking over for an upcoming campaign. Narrowing his eyes, he studied the blonde for a moment; a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. "You want to know, don't you?"
"I really do. But if you want to wait, I'll wait to."
"Let's just take this as it comes, but if you want to know ahead of time, then we'll find out." Returning to the boards, Brian allowed the pair's excited chatter to fade in to the background.
Justin sat up straighter, leveling his eyes with his friend's "I want to get one of those baby name books."
"I know Brian will probably want to buy brand new furniture; top of the line of course." Daphne began as she twisted around towards the brunette. "Hey Brian, does Armani make maternity furniture?"
"Hilarious!" Brian rolled his eyes in response, his focus never leaving his work.
"Anyways," Daphne continued, "Suvi's crib and the rest of the set are still in great shape. It's yours if you want it. You guys paid for it anyways." Daphne laughed.
"That was your baby shower gift." Justin reminded her.
"Some gift. People usually give clothes and breast pumps at baby showers – not entire sets of expensive furniture."
"Yeah, well, you know Brian. Go big or go home." Justin smiled as he glanced once more to the brunette in question.
Before the duo could continue their conversation further, Suvi trudged down the stairs; rubbing her eyes. "Mommy, I'm hungry. I want ice cream."
Justin couldn't contain his laughter. If he didn't know any better, sometimes he would swear that child was his. Not awake more than 5 minutes and she's already contemplating her next meal; and junk food at that. Scooping the girl into his lap, he started tickling her sides as laughter filled the room. "I've taught you so well, Suv. I know; how about we go grab dinner and then we can go to the ice cream shop and you can get whatever you want?"
Suvi's eyes lit up as she clapped her hands together excitedly. The child really spent too much time around Emmett. "I want chocolate chip with hot fudge and sprinkles."
Daphne stood up to collect her daughter. "Let's go get ready than, love."
Suvi wiggled out of her mom's arms defiantly. Once on her feet, she planted her tiny hands on her hips as she looked back and forth between Daphne and Justin seriously. She then headed over to where Brian was standing by the dining room table; boards spread out in front of him. Tugging at his pants she motioned for him to pick her up.
Acquiescing to her wishes, Brian lifted the girl to his hip; taking in her solemn look. "What's up?"
"Mommy and Uncle Juss forgot me today. They left and then mommy ran back in, but I know they forgot me." Brian smirked at the child's indignation. It amused him that she wasn't upset so much as she was pissed off at the adult's imprudence.
"Is that so?" Brian asked dramatically as he turned towards the offending duo. Placing his free hand on his hip in the same fashion, Brian and Suvi's scrutiny was effectively making the pair squirm.
"Yes, they really did. Make them swear they won't do that again." Suvi implored the brunette; her accusing glare never faltering.
Brian shook his head in mock disgust, "For shame, you two. Forgetting this poor, defenseless child for…how long was it, Suvi?" Suvi shrugged her shoulder and held up two fingers. "Two whole minutes?"
"Defenseless my ass." Daphne muttered as she watched the two working their magic. Brian was Suvi's go-to guy when it came to anything she wanted…and anything she was less than pleased about. The brunette indulged the child's every whim as well as her every complaint. "It wasn't even two minutes, just long enough to get in the car and realize we were short one person." Placing the child back down to her feet, Brian grinned as she ran off, imploring her mother to hurry up so they could leave.
Justin stood up from his spot on the couch and made his way to his husband's side. "You coming with us?" Justin asked, threading his finger through the belt loop of Brian's slacks; maneuvering the brunette so that he was facing him.
"Sorry, Sunshine. Big pitch tomorrow and seeing as how we will soon be keeping the diaper companies in business, I need this campaign to be perfect." Brian teased, loving the way the blonde's eyes grew slightly larger with the added reminder of their impending arrival. He didn't, however, like the way his face fell slightly afterwards. Dropping his voice, he leveled with the blonde. "Seriously, while I would love to go with you guys, I have to make adjustments and call them in before 8pm tonight so they will be ready for the pitch in the morning. Plus, I want to call Gus and make sure we're still on for this summer. The Munchers better not flake out on me like they did last time he was supposed to come down."
Searching his husband's face, Justin realized that Brian likely needed some time alone with all the excitement from the day's news. He knew that talking to his son was a way that Brian kept himself grounded when he felt overwhelmed. "Tell Gus I said 'hi' and I love him." Rising up on his toes, Justin captured his lips for a quick kiss.
Brian pinched his ass when he walked away, causing the blonde to jump. "Go eat your ice cream and buy your books. Have fun." Justin smiled his smile as he walked out of the house to pull the car around to the cottage before heading in to town.
In the silence of the deserted house, Brian smiled softly to himself. Five tests couldn't be wrong. Soon they would get the confirmation they needed, yet Brian felt the heaviness in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't shake. They were nowhere near being out of the woods as far as all the possible things that could go wrong. Every scenario played over and over in his head as he tried to figure out a way to shield those he loved if the inevitable really were to happen. Would he be able to hold everyone together if the bottom fell from under them? The things they went through in the first five years were rocky to say the least. These last five years had been so peaceful and damn near perfect; which terrified the hell out of him. Surely there was a quota for happiness that resided within himself and once that quota was reached, the other shoe would no doubt fall.
Shaking his head, Brian retrieved his cell phone from his pocket and dialed the familiar number. "Hey dad." Gus's assured, yet bored voice came over the phone causing Brian to laugh.
"How did you know it was me?" Brian questioned the 10 year old.
"I didn't, just a guess."
"Well what if it had been Justin, what would you have said then?" Brian challenged.
"Probably the same thing." Gus deadpanned.
"Oh, right. Anyways, I just wanted to call to make sure we were still on for the summer."
"Yep." At that moment, Brian wondered what the hell had happened to the boy who used to talk his ear off until Linds sympathetically took charge of the phone whenever he called. That version was quickly being overtaken by the version he was currently conversing with, and Brian wasn't sure if he liked this or not.
"How's school going?" Brian asked out of obligation. "You're almost done for the year, right?"
"Two more months." Came his son's terse reply.
This summer could prove to be really interesting if this was any indication of how his son would act. Brian was at a loss for words, literally. Conversations with Gus usually never lacked an extreme need for his own input as the kid tended to talk enough for the both of them. "Ok, Sonnyboy. Is your mom around, can I talk to her?"
"She's right here."
"Ok, hey Justin said he loves you. I love you too."
"I love you guys too." Brian could hear the slight hitch in the boy's voice as he imagined the small smile that graced his young face. That was more like it. "Hey, dad?"
"Yeah?"
"Ummm, do you think you could stop calling me Sonnyboy, so much? At least like, in public? I'm too old for nicknames; I'm ten now!"
Proverbial fist, meet gut.
Brian felt all the air leave his lungs with that one statement of proclaimed maturity by his son. Was this just some really bad dream? This wasn't really happening. Surely, his playful and energetic Sonnyboy didn't just ask to be renounced of the one tie Brian had managed to keep intact all these years?
After a moment of silence, Brian could hear the phone shuffling and muffled voices before Lindsay's voice came over him. "Brian?"
"Lindsay, what the fuck is going on?" Brian huffed out angrily.
"What do you mean?" Lindsay asked worriedly.
"I can barely get a full fucking sentence out of my son and all of a sudden he's too old for nicknames?" Lindsay stifled the laugh that was threatening to escape, but Brian could hear her struggle. "What's so funny?" He demanded.
"Brian, surely you must recognize the gesture." Lindsay admonished, but when Brian didn't reply she pressed on. "Come on, he's acting more and more like you every day. The attitude, the short, clipped responses…he's becoming a virtual carbon copy of you and it's driving Mel insane."
Brian had to laugh at the thought. "That I would love to see."
"Now I'm hesitant to ask, but are we still on for the summer with Gus? Justin has all kinds of shit planned for when he's down here. It's like he reverts back to goddamn 17 years old when Gus is around." Brian laughed.
"Everything is all set. Is that all you wanted? We're about to sit down to dinner."
Brian took a deep breath before continuing, preparing himself. "Actually there is one more thing I wanted to tell you. We are holding off on telling everyone else for a few days, at least until we get the confirmation, but Daph took a pregnancy test today…well five to be exact, and they all came back positive."
Lindsay squealed in to the receiver before her voice dropped to a whisper. "Oh Brian that is wonderful. Can I tell Mel?"
"If you must, but don't say anything to anyone else if you happen to talk to anyone in the next few days."
Was it possible to hear someone smile? "Thanks for letting me know. With us all the way up here, it's easy to fall out of the loop of everything that is going on with everyone."
"I know, plus you went through this same thing so I knew you would understand what's going on." Brian relented.
"Absolutely, and tell Daph to call if she needs anything. You and Justin do the same, you hear? How is Justin, by the way? I bet he is ecstatic!"
Brian groaned. She didn't know the half of it. "He's already picked out paint colors."
Boisterous laughing assaulted his ears. "Oh no!"
"Yeah, so just keep your couch free for the next 9 months. I might just need a place to escape from these two. I can already tell they are going to drive me crazy with this."
Lindsay smiled knowingly. "Yeah right, don't even try to lie to me. You want this just as much or you would have never agreed to it…"
"I'll talk to you later, Linds. I love you." Brian said. Before Lindsay could rattle on further he closed the conversation and hung up the phone.