Present Day – Eight Years Later – Chicago
"Kaylee Marie Taylor-Kinney, get your butt down here – you're going to be late!"
"I just need a couple more minutes, Daddy!" he heard his daughter protest pleadingly from upstairs. Justin sighed heavily in aggravation. There wasn't any need to go upstairs in search of his daughter; he knew precisely where he would find her – primping in the bathroom again. But just how much 'preening' did a 10-year-old girl need to do to go camping?
It had taken an enormous amount of convincing and parental prerogative on his part to even get his fashion-conscious daughter to agree to go to the summer camp in the first place; she had been positively aghast to find out that there was no air conditioning inside the cabins she and the other girls would be staying in for the next two weeks. She had queened out at length especially about how the heat and humidity would make her long, thick blond hair frizzy and uncontrollable (she had been blessed or cursed, depending upon how you looked at it, with her mother's hair texture) and she had been almost inconsolable to find out that (gasp!) she would have to endure the entire two weeks without the luxury of a bathtub, having to limit her beauty regimen to a brief, daily shower instead.
"Kaylee Marie!" he sternly shouted once more at his daughter, quickly running out of what little patience he had left. "Get down here right NOW!" He couldn't help thinking that if his daughter was this rebellious as a pre-teen, how was he ever going to endure her as a teenager? He loved his daughter deeply, and she was actually a good kid – she made excellent grades and was involved with several groups at school, including the newspaper and glee club – but when it came to having to do without life's 'luxuries,' even temporarily, or having to speed up her primping routine, she could be quite the handful. He sighed as he saw no sign of her or heard any approaching footsteps; considering Kaylee was conceived through his sperm, how did she wind up being a miniature version of her other father instead?
Brian. God, why did he have to bring him up? He still missed him so much, as well as Katie. He tried to stay busy so he wouldn't have time to think about them, tried not to wonder what the two of them were doing back in Pittsburgh. He knew when he and Kaylee had moved to Chicago eight years ago that it would be hard to leave his old life – his family, his friends, and most of all, the only man who had captured his heart and truthfully still held it hostage. But at the time he hadn't realized just how hard it would be. Oh, he had managed to land on his feet successfully enough, at least in a business sense; thanks to the notoriety he had received from the article in Art Forum magazine and some well-placed networking he had undertaken soon after he had arrived in the Windy City, his art had quickly become in demand here, enough that he and his daughter were living a comfortable life in an old brownstone in one of Chicago's toniest areas, an enclave for creativity full of musicians, actors, and fellow artists. The neighbors were helpful and kind enough, and Kaylee was close friends with several girls around her own age who lived on the block, and her bubbly personality made her quite popular with her schoolmates. For all intents and purposes, at least from an outsider's viewpoint, he and his daughter lived full, busy, and happy lives. And to a certain extent, they did; Justin still derived a great deal of satisfaction out of seeing the positive reviews and accolades he received in his new 'hometown;' he had a shelf full of awards and plaques attesting to that fact. And it was almost a blessing that because Kaylee had been so young when she and her sister had been separated, she sadly didn't remember much of either Katie OR Brian; the only information she could recall was another child around her age she used to play with, but nothing more.
Justin had agonized for months over what to tell – or not tell – his daughter about Brian and Katie. Kaylee was quite familiar with Daphne as well as her grandmother – both women came to visit them frequently and were an important part of her life. Both his mother and Daphne, who had since accepted a residence at a teaching hospital in Pittsburgh, absolutely doted on Kaylee and she felt the same way about them in return. He was thankful they were both in his daughter's life, and he had made no secret of who Daphne was. It had been somewhat hard to explain to his daughter just why Daphne, who was her biological mother, hadn't been romantically involved with him; after all, that was the normal course of events when a child was born. But he had never planned on hiding his being gay from her, so when she turned 9 years old, he finally sat her down and told her exactly who her 'Aunt' Daphne was and why they weren't together, and why they never HAD been or would be…...
His daughter, who always did seem very mature for her age (even if he wasn't impartial about it,) accepted his statement about his sexuality and Daphne's role in her life fairly easily to his enormous relief. Telling her about Brian, however, was another matter. He had pondered that quandary for weeks leading up to their fateful discussion, and finally, he had decided that he would have to tell her about him, at least some of it; after all, she had part of his name and had always wondered about it. Before, Justin had told her it was part of an old family surname and she had seem satisfied with that explanation. He had eventually decided to simply tell her that he and her other father had met before she was born, fell in love, and decided to have a child together with Daphne's help, but had encountered 'problems' shortly afterward and were forced to separate.
The hardest part was having to lie to her about not knowing where her other father was and even worse, about having a twin sister. Even now, almost two years later, his heart ached over his subterfuge. How could he just dismiss what he and Brian had had so cavalierly now? And how could he not tell Kaylee that she had a twin sister and he knew exactly where both of them were? What seemed like easy answers, though, were anything but; as part of their separate custody agreements, it was written out that both he and Brian were to take one daughter each to raise as their own with the stipulation that they were not to divulge the other girl's whereabouts or even disclose she existed. Once the girls turned 18, however, they would be allowed to be told the truth.
Their crazy custody agreement had been the brainchild of both their attorneys and the mediator that had been appointed to their case; at the time it seemed like a logical solution to their dilemma, as both men deeply loved their children. But now, as he looked back on it, he found the whole thing seemed so absurd and even cruel. Unfortunately, he was bound to abide by the agreement that had been constructed, as uncomfortable as it made him feel. That didn't mean that he still didn't miss both Brian and his other daughter like crazy.
Yes, he still loved Brian; perhaps he always would. You didn't just fall in love at first sight with a man and forget him in an instant or even a lifetime. Just because he still loved Brian, though, didn't mean they could live together and build a solid relationship. They had tried that shortly after he had come home from New York and for several months it had been wonderful. They had been monogamous, living quite contently at Britin with Daphne as they anxiously awaited the birth of what would turn out to be their twin daughters. And when Kaylee and Katie had been born for several months afterward Brian was the doting father, even agreeing to help feed and diaper the girls when the need arose, along with Justin's help; as per their agreement, Daphne directed her attention a few months later to her medical career and enrolled in a pre-med school, leaving the new fathers alone to rear their two girls. Even now, Justin could still see in his mind's eye an image of Brian holding Kaylee in his arms, a powder-puff pink baby blanket (Gucci, of course) slung over one shoulder as he rocked his daughter back and forth in an attempt to get her to burp; he would always chuckle softly at how lady-like Kaylee's burps were compared to Katie's, who sounded more like a sailor when SHE burped. And he could still recall Brian wheeling both girls down the driveway in their twin, side-by-side stroller with one hand, wearing his dark sunglasses and sipping his black morning coffee out of a portable to-go mug with his other hand before he would drive off to work for the day. Brian had had such a proud, happy expression on his face at the time…..
But eventually the old Brian returned, as the man whose insecurities about growing older and being less attractive than the other 'studs' of the Liberty Avenue bar scene flared to the surface. The Brian Kinney that only knew one way to show he was the king and was triumphant over all the others, the only way that he knew how to prove that he was still the most stunningly handsome, sexy man in all of gay Pittsburgh – by fucking some nameless bigwig's son in his private bathroom at Kinnetik after a multi-million dollar deal was in jeopardy when he had been unable to 'persuade' the client in a more conventional manner to go along with a radically-new ad campaign he had constructed.
Justin had had the misfortune of walking into Brian's office around lunchtime one day with thoughts of surprising his lover with a makeshift picnic lunch just as he and the other man had emerged from the bathroom with that 'just fucked' look all over their faces. Even if they hadn't had the telltale signs, there was no mistaking Brian's look of guilt as his startled eyes bored into Justin's angry and hurt blue ones. Without a word, he had dropped the wicker basket and rushed from the room, leaving the client's son wondering what was going on and leaving Justin with his heart shattered.
Before it wouldn't have mattered; he knew what Brian was like, what he felt he had to do to validate his place in society. But that was before – before he had promised to be monogamous to him, before they had taken the significant step of doing it raw, and before their two daughters had been born. Brian had tried to apologize later that day at home, deciding apparently to wait a while to give Justin time to cool off. But it had backfired; Justin hadn't needed to cool off because he wasn't really that furious with Brian. Yes, he was angry but he was more hurt and disappointed that Brian had finally broken a promise to him. Perhaps it hadn't been fair to keep Brian high up on that pedestal, but it had been the first time Brian had lied to him and it had hurt like a knife had been plunged and twisted into his heart. Leaving Justin alone for several hours after the event had occurred had merely made his partner even more disillusioned and hurt than he was initially.
Despite Brian's attempts to try and get his lover to forgive him, Justin couldn't do it. Too many years of seeing Brian fucking other men, at home, at Babylon, at Kinnetik, at Woody's, the diner; hell, everywhere, had culminated in the inability for him to forgive and forget this time. At that moment, he knew he had only been kidding himself that Brian would ever commit to him totally. And when Brian, in a fit of anger and hurt himself, had brought up his 'indiscretion' with Ethan again, it had been the last straw. Because it had hit a nerve – a painful nerve of truth – and he had fought back accordingly, telling Brian he was not going to make amends for that for the rest of his life. One impetuous insult led to another until finally, Justin had stomped upstairs to the master bedroom to collect a few things and had spent the night in the guest bedroom down the hall.
Several days of tense living under the same roof occurred afterward, with only clipped yes or no answers among them as they maintained care for their daughters, until the two ultimately decided their plan to live happily ever after as an almost hetero-type family unit wasn't going to work. Never one to really dwell on the finer things in life – not that he didn't appreciate them, but he never needed them – Justin would have moved out that day, except he was unwilling to leave his daughters. He finally decided to seek an attorney's advice, discovering that under their parental rights as signed over by Daphne to them, Justin as the biological father actually had more legal rights to both daughters than Brian did.
His attorney had recommended to Justin, then, that he sue Brian for full custody of both daughters, allowing Brian occasional time with both Kaylee and Katie as part of their agreement. But as soon as Justin had brought it up, one look at the anguish on Brian's face as he realized he would be losing not only his partner but also both daughters he treasured and Justin knew he couldn't do that to him. Eventually, the painful decision was made for each man to take one daughter each, with Daphne involved in both their lives as she saw fit. Fortunately, as upset and stunned as Daphne had been by the dissolution of their partnership, she had thankfully decided to maintain a close relationship with both Kaylee AND Katie. To this day, she continued to see both Justin and Brian when she came to visit her daughters, always deliberately bringing up the other man's name in their conversation in hopes it would help but always getting politely rebuffed as they quickly changed the subject.
Justin sighed as he returned to the present; it wasn't as if he was in contact with Brian, at least not directly. His mother had kept in touch with him due to Katie living with him, so she was able to keep him apprised of Brian's comings and goings as well as how his other daughter was doing. To Brian's credit, he had welcomed Jennifer's influence in Katie's life as well as Daphne's and hadn't done anything to discourage it; in fact, it was just the opposite. He allowed his mother to pick up Katie frequently for day outings or to spend the weekend with her, and as a result, grandmother and granddaughter were extremely close. And not surprisingly, Brian and his mother were still cordial at least, although it was awkward now since he and Brian weren't together any more. She had told him that they purposely tried to focus on 'polite' conversation about 'safe' topics such as the weather, politics, or how Katie was doing in school when she went to Britin; it was as if both of them were too afraid to talk about what they really wanted to say when it came to his and Brian's relationship, and he really didn't want her to play mediator for him anyway. He and Brian were in the past now; the only thing they had in common were their two daughters.
He spoke with his mother several times a week and she was wonderful about sending him updated photos of Katie so he could at least be partially involved in her life, and she kept him up-to-date on how she was doing in school; apparently while Kaylee had turned into a 'girly-girl,' his other daughter had turned into a regular tomboy. He smiled as his mother described how she had climbed a tree several yards up a few weeks ago, merely to carve her initials and those of some boy she had a crush on into the tree's trunk with a pocket knife; how she had managed to climb back down without breaking a leg was a mystery to him, but she apparently was part monkey because she had succeeded admirably. She excelled at sports just like Brian had when he was growing up, playing on both the soccer and swim teams in her Pittsburgh middle school, and to his delight, she seemed to have an affinity for art as evidenced by some of the drawings his mother had shown him of some still lifes and landscapes she had drawn.
His heart both rejoiced as well as ached, though, each time he saw a new picture of her or thought of her; how he longed to compare their artistic abilities with her or just talk to her to get to know her better. She was the spitting image of Kaylee, except for the hair. While Kaylee's was long and unkempt at times and she preferred to just wear it down and loose, Katie's hair was cut more into a bob, barely reaching the nape of her neck. If you gave both of them the same hair style, however, it would be hard to tell them apart – Daphne's genes must have taken a recessive position when they were born because they had the same eye color as he did and the same blond hair, too, although it was maybe a tad darker than his. Until Katie reached adulthood, however, there was little chance he would ever get to see her in person, or even tell her who he was…..
He bit his lip to keep the tears from falling as he finally heard his daughter rushing down the steps, her hair flying everywhere behind her as she ran up to him. She gave him an apologetic smile and briefly hugged his neck. "I'm sorry, Daddy," she said softly. "I'm ready now." She was fashionably adorned with a sleeveless, light blue tank top and a pair of khaki shorts with matching beige sandals with sapphire-blue fake jewels on top; her fingernails matched the color of her blue top exactly. "Can you go get my suitcase for me? It's really heavy."
Justin shook his head. "Kaylee, what did I tell you? You didn't have to bring everything – they WILL have laundry facilities there – you should have just brought a few outfits that were interchangeable."
"Dad-dy," she whined a little bit. "I wouldn't be caught dead in the same outfit twice! Isn't it enough that I won't have access to a bathtub?"
She looked so serious that Justin had to laugh at her pouting look. "Okay, Princess," he acquiesced as he turned to head up the steps to retrieve her suitcase. "You go grab something to eat for breakfast real quick and I'll get your suitcase loaded into the car. But hurry – we only have a few minutes to spare."
"Okay," she replied as she ran down the hall toward the kitchen. Justin smiled after her tenderly as he hurried up the steps, partly excited for his daughter's adventure but also knowing he would miss her terribly while she was gone…..
Same Time – Britin
"Katie? Are you coming?" Brian called from his place in the library. They should have left fifteen minutes ago for the airport. He glanced up from his laptop when he didn't hear any movement from the steps. "Katie! We've got to go, honey!"
"Coming, Dad!" Brian closed his laptop as he heard the thunder of pre-teen hoofs rushing down the steps, along with the tell-tale thump-thump-thump of her wheeled suitcase following along behind her. Yep, that was his daughter, all right – not a dainty bone in her body…. He winced at the damage the wheels might be doing to the hardwood steps, but he knew there was probably no way she could have gotten it down the stairs by any other method, even if years of playing sports had made her a lot stronger than she looked….His daughter, if nothing else, was quite independent and liked to do things for herself.
He smiled at her tenderly as she came running full force into the library; she had her suitcase trailing along behind her and had a soccer ball in one hand. "I'm sure they'll have all kinds of sports equipment at the camp, Katie," he told his daughter with an amused expression. "I think you can leave that here."
She shook her head. "I'm not taking any chances," she told him firmly. "I'm not being stranded in the boondocks without at least something to play with."
Brian snorted. "Honey, you saw the brochure! The camp sits on a 300-acre lake and there're tons of activities scheduled for the entire two weeks! Trust me – you won't need to take any sports equipment." He had been happy to see how excited Katie had been at the thought of going to this camp; he would have never given any consideration to such a thing while he was going to be away on business at the same time, but Jennifer had shown him a brochure describing it and he had decided it might do his daughter some good to travel some place new and be exposed to different sights and sounds. Her soccer league didn't start up for a few weeks yet, and she had just gotten out of school, so this would be a perfect time for her to make some new friends and expand her horizons somewhat.
His daughter scrunched up her nose in thought, reminiscent of her biological father, as she finally nodded in agreement. "All right….but I still want to take my sketchbook, okay? I don't want to miss not being able to draw something that I might not be able to see anywhere else."
Brian swallowed the painful lump in his throat; God, she was so much like Justin sometimes. Same petite build, same blue eyes, even the same expressions when she was thinking or passionately trying to make a point. And she had a lot of the same artistic talent that Justin did. It all made it extremely difficult not to think about her father when she looked at him that way. Of course, he really didn't need much reason to think of Justin anyway; he was in his thoughts all the time. He was sometimes successful in forcefully pushing the memories of him away at times – it was the only way he could go on with his life, that and taking care of his daughter who he loved deeply – but Justin was never far away from his mind.
Whenever Jennifer came to visit and mentioned his name, he tried to pretend he was indifferent to how Justin was doing, requesting that she change the subject, but the truth was he was very much interested in his welfare and that of his other daughter. He lived for the new photos that Jennifer would bring him, marveling at how much Kaylee looked like her sister, except for the longer hair. They were both so beautiful and reminded him so much of Justin. God, he missed him so much even now. After eight years, the pain was still raw and fresh, but as his daughter got older, he began to wonder how everything had spiraled so out of control and how they had reached this point. The arguments they had had seemed somewhat muted now; silly even. But it had been him who had fucked up – literally as well as figuratively – and now he had to live with the consequences. He was thankful at least that he had his daughter and still had a way to know that Justin and Kaylee were doing okay through Jennifer; it certainly didn't compare to having them in his life, though, but it was better than no information at all.
When he felt the time was right a few years ago to tell her about his ex-partner, he had been straight with Katie about Justin, advising her that he had had a relationship with her biological father and they had broken up after she had been born. He had also informed her that her 'aunt' Daphne was in fact her real mother, who loved her and would stay in her life but would not be with her on a day-to-day basis like he was. True to their deal with the devil, however, he was prohibited from telling her about Kaylee, and it fucking killed him. A lie had been the eventual cause of his and Justin's downfall, and the last thing he wanted was to make things even worse by having to tell yet another lie. His hands were tied, however; he had agreed to the custody arrangement and that had been one of the stipulations. He only wished now that he had found another way to settle things, because the thought of his daughter never seeing either Justin or her twin sister possibly ever again filled him with remorse and sadness.
"Dad?" he lifted his head, aware he had zoned out while his daughter was waiting for his reply. "I'm sorry, Honey," he told her sheepishly. "Of course you can take your sketchbook. Do you have it with you?"
She nodded her head. "Yeah – it's in my suitcase."
Brian quietly closed his laptop and stood up. "Okay, well, we'd better get going, then. We have a plane to catch." He knew Katie would probably be okay flying by herself – this wouldn't by any stretch of the imagination be her first flight, having accompanied him on several business trips in the past – but he still didn't feel right leaving her by herself. Having both Justin and Kaylee out of his life had made him hold on even harder to his remaining daughter.
He walked around the heavy, wooden desk to place a gentle hand on her arm. "Okay, Princess," he told her softly. "Let's get going."
A few minutes later, having stowed her gear in the more practical Cadillac SUV he had long ago traded his 'Vette for, they took off hurriedly for the Allegheny County Airport to board a plane for their destination, Cheboygan, Michigan, the nearest airport for Camp Pinewood in the northern part of the peninsula.
Brian reached over to squeeze his daughter's hand as he pulled out of the driveway. "You're going to have so much fun, Katie," he told her, smiling; he was glad to see a sparkle of excitement in her eyes in reaction to his statement. He would do anything for this little girl, as long as it made her happy. In a way, it was his way of making things up to Justin…..It would never push him out of his mind, though – or his heart.
One Hour Later – Jennifer's Condo
Jennifer searched for her cell phone as it rang, berating herself for once more dropping it down wherever it was convenient, only to have to look for it later. For a real estate agent, she still had a bad habit of not placing her cell phone in one particular spot so it was readily accessible whenever buyers, sellers, or fellow agents called her about a house listing.
She placed her mug of tea down on the kitchen counter and went in search of the cell phone ringing nearby. Several seconds later, she finally uncovered it lying beneath her lightweight jacket. "Hello, this is Jennifer," she responded breathlessly as she flipped it open, not taking the time to check the caller I.D.
"Hi, Mrs. Taylor, it's Daphne." Daphne had just come from working a 12-hour shift and was exhausted; all she wanted to do was crash on her bed, but first she return Jennifer's call to her earlier.
"Daphne! I'm so glad you called!" the older woman responded excitedly; she had been waiting eagerly for her to call, hardly able to contain the news she had for her. Ever since the young woman had met Justin in school and the two had become good friends, Jennifer had been very grateful for the brunette's relationship with her son; Daphne had always accepted Justin for who he was, not WHAT he was, unlike her husband. Not to mention the fact that thanks to her, she now had two wonderful granddaughters that she loved more than she ever thought was possible. Until Molly, who had recently left for college out of state, got married and hopefully gifted her with more grandchildren, these were her only two and as a result she spoiled them terribly. She only wished she could do more to bring their fathers closer together. Hopefully, she was about to help with that problem….. "How are you, dear?" she asked softly, trying hard to stay calm.
"I'm beat," the younger woman admitted promptly with a small laugh. "I just got off an extended shift at work and I'm ready to collapse. You wanted to talk to me?" She had retrieved a voicemail message from Justin's mom about an hour ago when she got off work, noticing Jennifer seemed excited about something…..could that mean….? "It's not about the camp?" she supplied anxiously.
"Yeah," Jennifer told her with a higher-pitched voice, unable to stop smiling now. "I asked Brian about it last night, and guess what? She's going!" she practically shrieked.
"Shit!" Daphne said, her eyes wide in shock. "You're sure?"
"Yes," Jennifer breathed out in jubilation. "That means that both Katie AND Kaylee will be at the same camp at the same time! Which also means that both fathers have to take them up there to drop them off!"
"Oh, my God, Jennifer!" Daphne cried, her exhaustion temporarily forgotten over the revelation. "Do you think they'll run into each other?"
"I certainly hope so!" Jennifer said with a laugh. "That's the idea, isn't it?"
Daphne chuckled. "Yeah, it is…..you're good, Mrs. Taylor; real good. How did you know they would both agree to let the girls go there?"
"Well, I wasn't that sure about Brian. But Justin used to go to Camp Pineland every summer when he was their age and he absolutely loved it! I knew if I played things right with him I could probably talk him into sending Kaylee there. But Brian was the unknown factor – I wasn't sure he'd let Katie go so far away from home. You know how protective he's gotten of her – since he and Justin….well, you know." It still hurt her to think of how much pain the two men had inflicted on each other; she knew Justin had been hurt terribly and had felt he couldn't trust Brian, but she also knew her son still loved him…..this might be their last chance to make things right, but it would be up to them to initiate that. That didn't mean she couldn't help things along a little, though….
"Mrs. Taylor?"
"Yes, Daphne?" She could sense a certain hesitation in the brunette's voice. "Something wrong?"
"No….I'm glad they're both going. But what about the two girls? What are they going to think when they meet? They'll have to realize they're sisters – they're spitting images of each other, at least except for the hair. What about the agreement?" Daphne loved her two daughters and didn't want them to get hurt; on the other hand, she thought they finally deserved to know about each other.
To her surprise, Jennifer was decidedly blunt. "Fuck the agreement," she said brusquely. "It was a stupid agreement in the first place. If Brian and Justin can't come to their senses after all this time, it's time to give them a little shove in the right direction."
"But the court order said…"
"It said the BOYS couldn't divulge the other girl's existence; it didn't say anything about someone else revealing it."
Daphne smiled. "You little sneaky grandmother, you," she replied in admiration. "No….I guess it didn't." She sobered somewhat, though, as she thought through all the possible consequences. "But what if the girls figure everything out and then Brian and Justin still won't speak to each other? Won't that make it worse?"
"Worse than not knowing they have a sister at all?" Jennifer countered. She had done a lot of thinking about this, knowing that both men might very well be furious with her if they discover what she did. But she had pondered all the pros and cons at length, and finally decided it was time to try and right a terrible wrong. Eight long years had passed, and these two stubborn men who were obviously still in love with each other were still as far apart – both figuratively as well as distance wise – as they had ever been. It was time to give both of them a well-appointed push on their asses to help them figure it out….
"Daphne, these two love each other. I'll be damned if I'm going to let them pine away for each other from afar while my two granddaughters are being kept apart, also, oblivious to the other's existence. I'm prepared to accept the consequences if it means there's a chance we can get them back together. Don't you think it's worth it?"
Daphne was quiet for a few seconds as she pondered Jennifer's argument, respecting her children's grandmother's courage, borne from love for both of them as well as the two obstinate men who had been apart for far too long. "Yeah, I do, too," she told her. "But you know in the end, what happens will still be up to them."
"Yeah, I know," Jennifer told her. "But I'm betting that once they see each other again, they won't be able to stay apart. Those two are like sexual magnets when they're around each other, and they DO love each other still, Daphne; I KNOW they do."
Daphne smiled, recalling how both men still kept pictures of each other around their respective residences and how their eyes lit up, despite their attempts to hide it, every time she mentioned the other's name. "Yeah, me, too. I'll keep my fingers crossed for both of them – and my daughters."