Brian has a heart-to-heart talk with his daughters before Michael's visit; Justin comes into contact with some friends from the past.
An Hour Later – Katie's Room
Both sisters sat together cross-legged on Katie's bed, Katie sketching silently in her sketchpad with a graphite pencil while Kaylee worked on beading a new bracelet in shades of light pink and green, two of her favorite colors, the iridescent jewelry scattered at the bottom of a round, plastic container to be threaded onto a nylon string. Tonight they had followed their father's instructions he gave them earlier, opting to wear sleepwear that more appropriately reflected their individual style and set them apart for a change. Katie was wearing a no-nonsense, two-piece pair of pajamas consisting of a solid, navy-blue tee shirt and a pair of gray sweat pants, while Kaylee had chosen to wear a knee-length nightgown that Katie had retrieved from her bottom dresser drawer. She had never actually worn the prissy-looking gown; it had been a Christmas gift last year from their Grandma Debbie and she had found the white lace trim and pink color too girly for her taste. Kaylee, on the other hand, had loved it, so much so that Katie had promptly gifted her with it. A favorite CD of Katie's played quietly over in the corner of her room as they worked companionably together, both girls preoccupied with the situation regarding their fathers and the events of the past several hours.
"Tired?" Katie asked her sister, glancing up from her sketch pad as she heard her give out a big yawn.
"A little," Kaylee admitted as she placed the half-completed bracelet down and stretched her hands above her head. "What time is it?"
Katie glanced over at her bedside clock made in the shape of a soccer ball. "About eleven," she told her.
Kaylee nodded as she glanced over at her sister's drawing of their father. It depicted Brian sitting at his desk in his office, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose as he looked at some work on his laptop. "You're really good," she complimented her. "That looks just like Dad."
Katie smiled wistfully. "Thanks," she said softly. She sighed as she placed the sketchpad down on the mattress in front of her.
Picking up on her sister's gloomy-looking face, Kaylee asked, "Katie?"
"Yeah?"
"What are we going to do?" She didn't even have to elaborate about what she was referring to; it was almost as if they could read each other's minds.
Katie bit her lip thoughtfully. To her sister's dismay, she shook her head sadly. "I don't know," she told her honestly in a whisper. Everything they had tried had come crashing down, and now their father had forbade them to do any more, even dressing up alike. "Nothing we do seems to help anymore."
Kaylee's eyes glistened with the beginning of tears. "I know," she said, her face clouding over. "I'm afraid, Katie." Her sister had always been the strong one throughout their endeavors, and to see her so uncertain now made her all the more anxious.
Katie reached for her hand and grasped it, feeling it tremble beneath her. "Me, too," she admitted. "I'm afraid that now that Daddy will be able to tell us apart, he'll want to take you back home right away, and things will go back to the way they were before." She reached inside the pocket of her sweatpants, drawing out the old photo that she had found in the library book. Even though it had only been a few weeks ago, at the moment it seemed like a lifetime. She stared down at the photo of their two fathers, looking so young, so happy, and so in love. She swallowed the lump in her throat before she whispered, "I was just getting to know Daddy again, and now…now…I don't even have a recent picture of him yet." Her words failed her as her own heart began to drop at the thought of all of them being separated again, and tears formed in her own eyes. Normally she was the strong one, the leader, the determined one. Right now, though, she merely felt like the child that she was, a pawn in a battle between two very obstinate and proud men, and it made her feel inordinately helpless.
To her surprise, Kaylee shook her head firmly. "No," she told her, her jaw set. "Daddy told us that he wouldn't leave until he and Dad had changed the custody agreement so we could see each other again. He always kept his promises to me, Katie. He won't leave until they work something out with the judge."
Suddenly their roles were reversed as Katie sought comfort and reassurance from her sister. "You think so?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "I don't want us to ever be apart again. And I don't want to have to say goodbye to Daddy again, either. I love them both so much, Kaylee. And you. You're the best sister anyone could ever have." She sniffled and swallowed hard at the painful, emotional lump in her throat.
Kaylee's eyes filled with tears as she reached to tightly embrace her sister. "I love you, too, Katie," she told her as they clung to each other desperately, all the events seeming to culminate in their tight embrace. Their mournful sobs filled the air until they finally pulled back after several seconds, both faces tear-stained and their hearts heavy with sorrow and dread.
Their hands were still clasped together as the door to their bedroom was quietly opened and Brian peered inside. His heart broke at the sight of his two little girls, miserable and frightened, as he slowly walked into the room. At the moment he had no fucking clue what he was going to say to them, but he knew he had to tell them something to reassure them.
He walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, having said goodbye to Justin and Jennifer a few minutes earlier. Michael would be coming out to the house tomorrow morning to see him. He had hoped it could have even been tonight, but at this late hour he realized that was unreasonable of him, even though Michael had offered. It wouldn't really make any difference, he supposed, but he knew he would be having a restless night tonight. Sleep would be the furthest thing from his mind.
"Mind if I join you?" he asked them softly as he scooted over onto the bed to sit between them. The two girls instantly melted into his side as he wrapped his arms around their shoulders and they laid their heads against his chest. He sighed, regretting what they were having to go through because of him and Justin's difficulties. Their sadness and fear were yet another painful ramification of what had happened between him and his ex-partner so long ago and how it still lingered even today.
"Are you both okay?" he asked them softly as his thumbs slowly caressed their shoulders in small circles. He could hear their soft breathing and feel their hearts beating against his chest as he pulled them closer to his body, trying somehow to convey his deep love for them and to somehow show them that everything would work out okay. He only wished he knew how that was going to happen.
Kaylee sniffled against him as she whispered, "We're scared, Dad."
He pulled back then to look down into her tear-washed face, again seeing an exact replica of Justin's blue eyes peering back at him. His heart did a flip-flop as he stared at her. "Scared? What are you scared of, Princess?"
Kaylee looked over at her sister before confessing, "We're afraid everything will all go back to the way things were before."
Brian eyes bored into hers as he said, "You mean before you and Katie found each other again? Before you came here to stay with me?"
Kaylee nodded as Katie explained, "She's afraid that we'll all be pulled apart again. Dad, we don't want to live that way."
Brian straightened himself up in the bed so he could brace his back against the headboard. It helped to provide him with more support, but it also gave him a few seconds to think because frankly, he didn't quite know how to address their concerns. Depending upon what happened, there was still a chance that they would be apart again, at least for much of each year. If he and Justin couldn't resolve their problems, or if the judge somehow didn't agree to a revised custody agreement, Kaylee and Katie would be just like the thousands of other children who are raised in broken homes across the country.
"I'm not going to lie to either of you," Brian began as two sets of worried eyes peered up at him for reassurance. "I'm kind of afraid of that, too." He let out a tense breath before gently advising them, "There's going to be a chance that things will not work out the way you want. And even if your father and I come to an agreement between us, the judge could still decide to keep the original custody agreement intact, although I don't see how he can do that now that you two know about each other. But you both need to be prepared just in case it does happen." He swallowed uncomfortably; the last thing he wanted was to hurt his and Justin's daughters any more. But he refused to build their future relationship on false hopes, also. "Your father and I will do everything we possibly can to make sure that the two of you see each other all the time. And we both want to get to know you both a lot better. We will always be in your lives no matter what," he rushed to assure them. "But I won't make false promises to you and guarantee that everything will turn out all right between your father and me personally, because the truth is, I don't know what's going to happen."
Katie wiped her face with her tee-shirt. "You ARE going to talk to Daddy again, aren't you?" she pressed urgently. "Please, Dad. You have to somehow make him understand how you feel. How sorry you are. How much you still love him. Please."
Brian's eyes misted over at the mournful tone of his daughter's voice. His heart was breaking as he looked at both of the daughters he loved so deeply, their hearts bared open to his scrutiny. "You know I will," he told them softly. "I told you before, girls; I'm NOT giving up on him – on us. I think he needs a little time to think about what we've discussed, and I need a little time, too. He already knows I love him. I am NOT going to quit; I think you both know me better than that by now." He reached over to gently wipe Kaylee's cheeks with his fingers as told them both, "Just hang in there. Don't give up hope, not yet." He reached over to wipe his other daughter's tears away as he felt the need to reiterate, "Just please – you have to promise me once more that you will not get involved again. Both your father and I know very well how you both feel, and we both love you for it. But now it's up to the two of us to straighten everything out, and I will do everything in my power to see that that happens…okay?"
Both girls nodded at him as he smiled and pulled them even tighter against him. He grunted before releasing them. Kissing one daughter on the forehead and then the other, he began to rise from the bed as he told them, "Now try and get some sleep, okay? We're going to have some company tomorrow."
Kaylee and Katie both frowned; was their father coming back, despite his injury? "Is Daddy coming back here to the house?" Kaylee asked.
Brian shook his head. "No, not yet. Michael's coming out to visit me. And Gus is arriving from Toronto tomorrow afternoon." He had completely forgotten about his son's visit that had been planned months before; in a way it was terrible timing with everything else going on, but in another way, it was a great opportunity for Kaylee to become reacquainted with the brother that she didn't even remember. It was yet one other part of this whole sordid mess that he regretted.
Katie's face broke out into a delighted smile, a stark contrast to the wetness still drying on her cheeks. "Gus will be here tomorrow?" She wasn't all that excited about Michael – she just looked at him as a friend of her father's, even though she knew they had grown up together and they had been best friends at one time – but Gus was special. He was her big brother, her staunch defender, and yes, her true friend, even though they were years apart in age. Brian nodded at her in confirmation as a thought struck her. "Didn't Daddy name him the night he was born? And didn't you meet for the first time that night?" She had always been fascinated with any information her father would give her regarding him. This had been one of the few pieces of information he had shared with her regarding their lives together, and she clung to each bit of revelation like a precious jewel.
Kaylee's mouth hung open in shock, her heavy heart temporarily pushed aside as she digested this incredible disclosure. Katie had filled her in with just the briefest of information on both her father's friend Michael as well as the brother she had never remembered meeting before, but he would be here tomorrow? And her Daddy had met her father the same night he had been born and had been responsible for naming him, too? "Is that true, Dad?" she asked him, her eyes round with curiosity. "Daddy never told me any of that."
Brian smiled in fond remembrance. That night had been one of the most exhilarating, as well as scariest nights he had ever endured. But it had also been the beginning of an amazing love story between him and Justin. Whether it would wind up being categorized under the 'happily ever after' section, though, remained to be seen.
"Yeah, it's true," he told her with a nod, his thoughts going back in time to that night. "It was one special night," he murmured before his eyes refocused on his daughter and he smiled, happy that at least for one brief period both girls were thinking about a more pleasant subject. "You will finally get the chance to see him again. He doesn't even know you're here, in fact, so it will be one, big surprise for him." He paused for a moment to divulge, "He's never forgotten you, you know. He asks about you all the time." Shit. Yet one more reason to end this stupid, hurtful custody agreement now…
"He does?" Kaylee asked him in wonder. "I can't wait to meet him!" It was almost like Christmas to her; not only had she obtained a sister she didn't know she had, but now she was going to get to meet the brother she never knew about, also. She frowned. "Would he even BE my brother, Dad?" she wondered. "He's not really related to me and Katie."
"Well, I'm your father, aren't I?" When Kaylee nodded, he arched an eyebrow at her as he firmly replied, "Well, then Gus is my son and you're my daughter, at least where it counts the most. So yes, he most definitely IS your brother where it's most important," he told her as he pointed to his heart, "right in here."
She nodded and Katie grinned over at him in complete agreement. She and Gus couldn't be any closer if they were blood related. "You'll like Gus," she told her sister. "He always stands up for me against Dad."
Brian finally had something to laugh at as he warned his daughter, "Now don't go telling her that, or I'll have a heck of a time controlling the three of you tomorrow. I'll definitely be outnumbered here." He let out a breath to release some tension as he stood up. His glance fell upon Katie's sketch on the bed and he reached down to pick it up, admiring her clean lines and detail. He smiled; she truly WAS Justin's daughter. "You're getting better all the time, Chiquitita," he told her as she beamed at the praise. "This is great. Of course, it would HAVE to be looking at the stunningly handsome subject matter."
"Daaad," she whined good-naturedly as he grinned down at her. "You're so full of yourself sometimes."
He laughed. "Only when I'm all dressed up in one of my power suits," he told her with a smile. "Now time for bed. I have it on good authority that Michael's bringing out some of your grandmother's lemon bars with him for breakfast tomorrow."
Katie smiled in delight; despite her normal penchant for eating healthy foods, she always made an exception for her Grandma Deb's lemon bars from the diner. "They're the best," she told Kaylee with a nod as Brian lifted the lightweight, horse-motif comforter from the bottom of the bed and waited until the two girls had lain down before he brought it up to cover them up to their shoulders. Two identical pairs of short-haired, blue-eyed faces peered up at him as his heart warmed at the sight. This was what it should have been like all this time – the precious time and opportunity for making memories that he and Justin had squandered. He let out a deep breath. Hopefully, hopefully soon, they could start making up for some of that lost time.
He smiled tenderly down at them as he leaned down to give each of them a kiss; in turn their arms wound around their father's neck as they hugged him back. As he stood back up, his emotions threatened to overwhelm him as he wished them good night.
"Good night, Dad," they both said in unison.
Brian grinned; even now, even when they weren't trying, it was hard not for them not to act as one. "Good night, girls." His face sobered into something warmer as he whispered, "Sweet dreams."
He turned to go, the wish he longed to express still the most difficult one of all for him to verbalize.
"Dad?"
Brian turned around just as he got to their door. "Yeah, Princess?" he asked Kaylee.
"I love you," was the simple reply, but those three little words, spoken so softly, held the key to Brian's heart.
"I love you, too, Dad," Katie called after her. "Even if you ARE conceited sometimes."
Brian smiled at her teasing, standing there for a few seconds before he found the courage to say, "Me, too." Closing the door quietly behind him, he leaned against it for a few seconds and took a deep breath. It was going to be a long, sleepless night.
Same Time – Pittsburgh
Jennifer unlocked the door to her condo and walked in, flipping on the light switch located to the side of the door and bathing the living room in a soft glow from the recessed lighting built into the far wall over the stark, white bookshelves. They were lined with a combination of photographs, trinkets of occasional vacation trips, leisure reading books and real estate law volumes, all very important parts of her life since she and Craig had divorced and she had made a life for herself. She noticed that the only photo missing in her collection was one she longed for most of all - a recent one of her two beloved granddaughters and their fathers together again, happy. She sighed, not sure if that would ever materialize or not. She turned to offer her son a hand, only to be firmly rebuffed.
"I can do it, Mom," Justin told her somewhat curtly as he hopped in on one foot, feeling like some perverse image of the Easter Bunny, but unwilling to let his mother help him. A stop at the urgent care clinic on the way home had proven that Justin had merely bruised the ankle, not broken or sprained it. He would need to avoid walking on it at least overnight, and then, depending upon how painful it was to bear weight on it, he could slowly build up to walking on it again. The nurse on staff tonight had issued him a set of metal crutches and had run through the proper use of walking with them; however, Justin was determined to only use them as a last resort. After being assaulted several years ago and being incapacitated for weeks, the last thing he wanted was to be reminded of any disability.
He hopped over to the nearby corduroy-brown couch and fell on top of it, being careful not to bump his injured leg on the ground as he did so. Huffing in discomfort, he placed his hands on top of his head and restlessly brushed his hair away from his eyes before he looked up wearily at his mother who hadn't moved from her place near the door. The ride home had been a tense one; Justin had been given a rather strong painkiller at the clinic and had spent most of the time with his head leaning against the car's passenger window; a light rain had begun, one of those nuisance, misty ones that served to match his gloomy mood, so he had elected to gaze out the window and avoid his mother's guilty stare. She had wisely decided not to engage him in polite conversation on the return ride home; if she had, she would have gotten an angry mouthful from him. Now, however, as the sedative effect of the prescription painkiller sank in, his anger had been diffused into something more akin to weariness.
"I'll go make up the spare bedroom," she finally said as she began to walk toward the hallway to retrieve some bedding.
"Don't bother," he quietly gritted out as she passed. "I'll just sleep on the couch."
"Wouldn't you be more com…"
"No," he told her sharply, tired of everything. "I'm staying here. Just bring me a pillow and a blanket," he told her, adding a perfunctory "please" to his request as an afterthought under his breath. He was still so extremely annoyed with her for once more interfering despite his wishes that he was afraid to say too much for fear he would explode at her.
Fortunately, she detected the angry tone in his voice and wisely chose to merely nod and let it go as she walked into the hallway's linen closet to retrieve the bedding. As she handed it to her son a few minutes later, she opened her mouth to speak, only to have Justin shake his head.
"I'm really tired, Mom," he told her tersely. "I'm not in the mood to discuss anything right now. Good night."
She bit her lip nervously for a moment before nodding, knowing her son would no doubt have a lot more to say to her later but realizing he was in no condition to do it now. "I'll just go get you some bottled water and put your medicine next to you if you need it, then."
A few minutes later, Justin was finally able to manage swinging his injured ankle around to gingerly lay it on the couch as he reclined lengthwise and tried to force himself to sleep, but his mind was racing with everything that had happened today – every moment with Brian rewound itself in his head; every touch, every word, every glance, his voice, his smell…his kiss. Damn him and his body's reaction to him. Even now, it was as strong as it ever was, maybe even deeper than before. Was it the time apart that had made it so much more intense, so vibrant? Add that to everyone else pushing them back together and he knew sleep would be elusive if not impossible tonight. Sighing as the second pain pill slowly began to take effect, against his will and his own good judgment, he finally managed to drift off into a restless sleep, his dreams concentrated on one man – a man he reckoned would linger in his mind and in his heart for all eternity.
Liberty Diner – 9:30 a.m. the next day
"Michael! What you are doing here, Honey?" Debbie beamed from behind the diner's counter as Michael came walking up to greet her.
He leaned over the counter to give her a hug and kiss before sliding himself onto one of the vinyl-clad stools. "Hey, Maw," he greeted her with an indulgent smile. "I need a dozen lemon bars to go."
"You got it," she said boisterously, thrilled to see her son looking more like his old self. She was noticing that more and more lately. She smiled at him as he gave her a return smile, but she didn't move toward the domed, glass display holding the diner's favorite dessert just yet.
"What?" he asked her in amusement, noticing her stare of curiosity. He knew that look by now, and what it meant; his mother's lips weren't moving (a rarity, for sure), but she was still definitely asking a question anyway.
Debbie leaned down to place her elbows on the counter and stare into her son's eyes; her own both piercing and inquisitive. "What's going on with you, Michael Novotny?" she asked him without any further preamble.
"I told you," he answered her a little uneasily. "I just came in to pick up some lemon bars. If you must know, Brian called me last night and invited me out to Britin to see him."
Debbie's brows lifted in surprise. "He did?" Now it was her turn to look a little uncomfortable. Did Brian tell Michael what was going on out there? Did he know about the two twins staying with him and about Justin being back in town? How she longed to see Justin again; when the two girls had come into the diner yesterday, she had been absolutely thrilled to see both of her granddaughters at last and help them get in touch with Emmett for his assistance with their dinner last night, but she had been extremely disappointed not to see their father with them. She was determined to rectify that soon, however; there was no way she was going to let Justin come back into town and not see him again. And she had to admit – she was dying to know what had happened last night. She had tried to call Jennifer, but her call had gone directly into voicemail.
"What did he want?" she asked him as she occupied herself with pouring him a cup of coffee, trying to sound nonchalant. Unlike her normal M.O., she had remained secretive about what was going on with Brian and Justin; her desire to see the two of them back together again as a family had trumped her normal tendency to blurt out everything that was going on.
Michael shrugged. "Who knows with Brian? Until he called last night, I hadn't heard from him in weeks. He said something weird, though, about needing 'rescuing.' If I didn't know better, I'd say he was strung out on E last night or drunk. But he didn't sound spaced out to me." What did he know, however? Since he had gotten married to Ben and Brian and Justin had broken up a couple of years after the birth of their daughters, their relationship had changed from one of a close bond to something more like a wistful, bittersweet friendship. The days of Brian calling to confide in him, or the two of them commiserating over a drink at Woody's, were long gone.
Oh, it wasn't that Brian hadn't been there for him when Ben had died, and hadn't spent time with him trying to console him. He had attended the funeral as well as stood by him at the hospital while Ben had been fighting for his life, but once he had died and the shock over his death had subsided into a more dulled form of grief, Brian had been forced to return to his life as a single father and CEO of a multi-million dollar advertising company, and Michael had thrown himself back into his comic shop. They had slowly drifted apart then, only talking to each other occasionally and meeting even less than that. So his friend's mysterious call late last night had come as something of a surprise, but he was still curious enough, and still cared for his former best friend enough, to find out what he needed.
Debbie nodded, wondering if it had to do with Justin and the girls. How could she ask him, though, and not give away her own part in what was going on? "Hmm," she said noncommittally. "That is kind of odd, even for him. He didn't give you any idea what he wanted at all?"
Michael shook his head as he took a gulp of his black coffee. "No, not really; he just asked if I could come out this morning to see him. He did say he'd grill out for lunch if I could stay that long; obviously he's not coming into Kinnetik, then."
Debbie silently digested that information. Was it possible that Justin was out there, too, and that both of them would be there, along with the girls? Perhaps this was promising news, then. "I guess you're right," she said as she placed the coffee carafe down on the nearby burner.
As she turned back around, it suddenly occurred to her that she hadn't asked her son about something else; surely his more sunny change in personality lately didn't have to do with Brian, did it? "Michael?"
"Yeah, Maw?"
"I've noticed you seem a lot happier lately. Why is that?"
She noticed her son actually fidgeting on the counter stool and averting his eyes as she waited for a reply, and now she KNEW she was right – there WAS something going on.
"Michael…I asked you a question."
"Why?" he countered with a question of his own, wondering how much he should tell her. He knew once he disclosed the real reason, there was no turning back. "Did you like me better the other way?" He knew until recently he had let Ben's death drag him down into the depths of despair, and it had only been a short while ago that he had found a motivation to pull himself back out.
"Ow!" he said as she whacked him affectionately on the side of his head. "Maw!"
"That's for being a smartass," she scolded him. "Of course I didn't, you little asshole!" she told him as she stared into his eyes. "I just want to know what caused the change in you, that's all. What aren't you telling me, Michael?"
Michael sighed. "All right," he decided, knowing it was inevitable anyway. "If you must know, I've…met someone."
He covered his ears just before his mother screeched in delighted astonishment. "Michael! You've met someone? Why didn't you tell me? Who is he? Where did you meet? What's his name? What kind of work does he do?"
Yes…That is why he hadn't brought it up yet. Fuck. Michael breathed in a deep breath and let it out before he spoke up, knowing this was going to take a little while. His mother wouldn't let him leave now without knowing everything about his new friend, including his birthdate, favorite color, rock band, food, and complete family history, no doubt, if he knew all that. "His name is Derek Donatello. I met him a few weeks ago when he came into the shop to discuss the plans for my expansion. He's the construction foreman for the job, and when I found out that he's a big comic book fan and that he was gay, well, one thing led to another and…"
"And you hit it off!" Debbie completed for him, beaming in delight over this unexpected news. "That's great, Honey!" she told him as she patted him on the back in congratulations. She cracked her gum before she asked, "So have you fucked yet? Is he an Italian Stallion?"
"Maw!" Michael protested, his face turning red as several other diners nearby turned their heads to look at them in amusement; everyone he saw there was familiar to him, though, so nothing that his mother said would really shock anyone – not anymore. "That's personal," he grumbled.
She smiled even brighter as she blew a bubble with her gum before popping it and concluded, "So you have! Way to go, Michael! I'm so happy for you, Honey! I mean, I loved Ben and all, you know that, but you've been so unhappy up until now…"
"Yeah, I know, Maw," Michael told her as he cut her off before she got too carried away and said anything more that was embarrassing. "I know what you mean," he told her softly as he patted her arm. "Just…don't scare him away, okay? He's a really nice guy and we're just getting to know each other."
She placed her hands on her hips as she said, "Now why would you say that? I just want to get to know him better, too."
Michael sighed. "You will," he hastened to promise her. He knew there would be no way to avoid a grilling from her, even if his mother had to walk down to his shop and check out Derek herself. "Just let me break him in gently," he teased her, only half-kidding.
She huffed in indignation. "Well, all right; but I expect him for Sunday dinner."
"Maw!" Michael protested. "That's too soon. He's not ready yet for a third-degree interrogation."
Debbie's eyes flashed. "Michael Novotny! It's just dinner! Nothing more. He's a construction foreman, isn't he? Then I'm sure he can handle me just fine. Now promise me – I won't take no for an answer. I need to make sure this man is good enough for my baby."
Michael rolled his eyes. "Maw, your baby is over forty years old!" He sighed. "Okay, okay…I'll bring him by for dinner Sunday. But promise me! Promise me that you will NOT pick apart every aspect of his life in the first thirty minutes."
Debbie held up in her hand and symbolically crossed her heart. "Fag's Honor," she told him with a grin. "I'll wait until at least an hour is passed," she told him with a guffaw.
"Thanks," Michael said warily. "I think. Now I have to go," he told her as he prepared to leave.
"Order up!" Debbie heard the short-order cook, Bernie, yelling as the obligatory ding of the counter bell sounded nearby.
"Hang on, I'll be right back, Honey, don't go just yet," she beseeched her son as she scurried over to pick up someone's order, silently dying to know more about her son's new friend before he left as well as exactly what was going on out at Britin. After Michael was gone, she just had to find a way to contact Jennifer.
Same Time – Outside the Diner
"Mom, quit looking at me like I'm some damn china doll!" Justin entreated as his mother flashed him yet another worried look from her place behind the driver's seat. He sighed in exasperation. "Would you please just let me out of the car here? I can manage to walk into the diner all by myself; I'm a big boy now, and the ankle is much better. Please…Just go on to your office and let me be for a while. I'll be fine."
The two of them had spent the past hour rehashing his mother's part in the twins' latest scheme, resulting in yet another promise from her that she would not interfere or participate in any more of her granddaughters' plans, no matter how much she might want her son and Brian back together. This time at least Justin was fairly confident that he finally got his point across and she did, indeed, intend to adhere to her promise. Only time would tell how sincere she was, though; but he had been adamant to her that he had to fight his battles himself, and he hoped she finally understood that. That didn't mean, though, that as his mother she wouldn't still try to coddle him. "Mom…"
She nodded. "All right," she told him as she cast a concerned glance his way. "I'll be back to pick you up around noon after I'm done with the closing, then."
He nodded at her as he slowly succeeded in swinging his body around and lowering his legs to the ground. At least with the bandage securely wrapped around his ankle and the pain medication, he could finally walk on it again, albeit it was still slow going. The leg no longer throbbed when he tried to put weight on it – it was down to more of a dull ache now, tolerable but still not pleasant. He gritted his teeth and pursed his lips together as he turned to close the car door and began to lumber toward the diner.
He didn't really know why he was drawn to going into the diner of all places – God knows there were way too many memories in there and he was already close to drowning in enough of them already – but it was almost like a magnet pulling him inside and when he had awakened this morning, all he knew was that he had to get out of his mother's place and just get his mind off what had happened last night.
He debated briefly as he stood there whether or not it was wise to even enter, but the place had been such an important part of his life for so long and in so many ways that he didn't think he could resist even if he wanted to. The place looked pretty much the way it had before – the same old bench outside, the same rainbow-colored banners near the front door, the same tacky posters promoting the latest gay events around the neighborhood; even the patrons coming in and out looked the same, except for perhaps a little more contemporary dress. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he pulled the door to open it and stepped inside, quickly finding himself transported back in time as he looked around the bustling interior and a multitude of memories assailed him.
He could still see himself standing behind the long counter, wearing one of those slightly drab, white aprons with his red, white, and blue "Justin" name tag on it, a half-filled glass carafe in his hand as he waited to pour coffee for some drugged-out drama queen who had been up all night long partying at one of the clubs and now needed to wake up sufficiently to go into work on no sleep.
He gazed over at the familiar, old vinyl booths, remembering how many times the gang had grouped around them, sometimes overflowing out into the aisle - Michael and Ben on one side, he and Brian on the other with maybe Ted, Emmett, and the girls in the next booth and Gus in his high chair on the end with a half-eaten, mushy animal cracker in his chubby little hand as he held it out to him like a prized possession. They had discussed so many things here – important things, yes, from time to time, like the whole Stockwell fiasco and Proposition 14, but also crazy, everyday things like who they had laid the night before, what their latest asshole boss had done at work to them, how they were going to find a new roommate, or what the next big event was going to be at Babylon. It was here most of all where he had forged so many memories and had felt loved and accepted; perhaps that was why he felt the strong pull today to return to where it all began.
As he slid into one of the nearest booths and sighed in relief as he was finally able to get off his aching foot, he thought about how long that seemed now, even though the diner pretty much looked the same. Just what did he expect, though? It WAS a long time ago – both in chronology as well as maturity. So much had happened since then. Once more he found his thoughts drifting back to Brian. Was it really possible to go back, even if he wanted to? Was it possible to start all over again with someone that you still loved, even though their lives would never really be the same again? He sighed. Things still weren't any simpler really than they had been before, except now he knew the decision mainly rested with him, not Brian. Brian had made that abundantly clear last night. COULD he forgive him, though? Could he let it all go and try to make a fresh start with him, even if it meant releasing the bitterness and pain he had been carrying around for so long? He honestly didn't know. But the reason that Brian couldn't seem to supply for him as to why he had done what he did still lay like a dull, heavy stone in the bottom of his heart.
He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he failed to notice someone familiar sitting with his back to him at the diner's counter until he heard a woman's raspy voice and his head jerked around in instant realization. He experienced a distinct sense of déjà vu as he stared over at a dark-haired man sitting at the counter facing a redheaded waitress. The woman's face was older and more lined than the last time he had seen her, but he recognized the two people speaking to each other instantly and his heart leapt to his throat in reaction.
"Well, just don't let him feed you any bullshit," Debbie was saying to her son about Brian as she hugged him briefly before bestowing a departing, red lipsticked kiss on his cheek. She took a napkin and wiped at his face to try and clear off the mark before she smiled back at him. "And I want to see this Derek guy at dinner Sunday! Promise me!" she commanded him.
Michael rolled his eyes – he should have known that was coming the moment he mentioned him. He shook his head but smiled at her; he still had to love her despite her pushiness. He knew that was his mother's way of letting him know that she loved him – she didn't know any other role to play besides Mother Hen no matter how old he might be. "Okay, okay," he told her with an indulgent smile as he turned to go with the box clutched in his hand. "We'll be there."
Justin couldn't hear Michael's part of the conversation – he wasn't being as loud as his mother – but he obviously had to have ordered some lemon bars to go, because he noticed Debbie had walked over to the glass cake display plate and raised the lid to pluck out what looked like a dozen bars and lay them in a white, Styrofoam square container before she replaced the lid and carried the box back over to him. He couldn't help watching them as he noticed Michael smiled and presumably thanked his mother as he handed her a bill. A few seconds later, she gave him a wave as he turned and proceeded toward the doorway. Justin knew it was juvenile, but he quickly snatched up his menu and hid his face as he slid further into the corner, successfully avoiding Michael detecting his presence. He didn't know why he had felt the need to hide from Michael – they had left on good terms, at least considering how close he and Brian had always been – but he just did not feel like being in the mood to discuss Brian with his former best friend. He had heard from his mother that he and Brian had somewhat grown apart over the past few years, especially in light of Ben's death, but still, he did not relish the idea of rehashing old times with his ex-partner's former best friend at the moment. The situation was complicated enough as it is.
As Michael passed by him oblivious to his presence, he realized he had an even bigger problem to surpass – Michael's mother. What the hell was he thinking coming into the diner and not expecting Debbie to be here? She apparently still ruled the roost here. He should have known she wouldn't have really slowed down much since he had left. He would have assumed after all these years that she would have either finally retired at last or at least greatly reduced the number of hours she worked. Apparently, he had been wrong on both counts. A stealthy glance her way verified that while she appeared older, just like everyone else, she still had a fiery sparkle in her eye, a spring in her step, and that commanding voice that got everyone's notice. He really did want to see her, but was he ready for all the questions that would ensue as well? Whether he felt prepared or not, something told him he was about to find out.
Chapter End Notes:
Well, I was planning on posting ONE more chapter of this before moving onto "Tame the Wild Stallion," but as usual I got way too winded and when I got to 16,000 words I decided to break it up into two smaller chapters. I almost have the next part of this written, though, so I will finish it and get it posted before moving back to the wilds of Kentucky. We're getting pretty close to the end here, I think - maybe two, three more chapters? Hope you continue to enjoy it.:) Thanks for reading - and thanks to my beta, boriqua522.:)