Brian and Justin were at Mikey's party. It wasn't much of one, just family and close friends (Deb, Vic, Emmett, Ted, Linds, Mel, Gus, Brian, and Justin, though, of course, Justin wasn't a close friend). The boys would go to Babylon later for funner fun. Deb had tried. She loved Mikey. So she has asked Vic to make Mikey a three-tier superhero cake. The first tier depicted Captain Astro; the second, Antman; and the third, Green Lantern. Vic had grumbled until Deb had thrown one hand on her hip and started waving the two-foot long wooden spoon in her other. He pretend smiled and got to work after that. Vic knew one thing about his sister: the answer to the question would she really? was invariably you bet your ass she would, no matter what the question referred to. She'd also gotten Mikey a man-size cutout of Captain Astro. Mikey had blushed and yelled, "Ma!" when he saw, but, secretly, or not so secretly, he was pleased. Finally, she'd made her special seven-layer meat, vegetable, and double cheese lasagna, Mikey's favorite.

At the moment, the partygoers were in the kitchen at the table, eating the aforementioned delicacy. Emmett pushed his lasagna around with his fork (it was just … too much, which was kind of a surreal observation, for him anyway, the man in a skin-tight, red, sleeveless shirt that looked like it was painted on and pants that looked like fish nets just with fewer small holes). Then he looked up, smiled, and asked Justin, "So, Justin, where did you and Brian meet?"

Mikey scoffed, "As if you have to ask! A backroom in some club."

Justin sniffed. "Actually …." He adopted his haughtiest tone, one he'd often heard his mother use at the country club. "… We met at one of my art shows."

Lindsay, who had been trying to keep Gus's food on the tray of his high chair, no mean feat, looked up then. Her face was flushed and one strand of hair had fallen out of her pony tail and forward against her face. "You're an artist?"

Justin nodded.

For the first time, Lindsay looked at Justin. Really looked at him. She narrowed her eyes. He was young. He looked 17 or 18. He had long fingers and delicate hands, or they would be, if not for the calluses from holding chalk and pencils too many hours a day. In fact, he had charcoal on the tips of his fingers. Faint, but present, from smoothing edges. So he'd been sketching already today, while on a weekend trip. Clearly, he was dedicated. He must be talented to get a show so young. Just as she'd reached this conclusion, a piece of Gus's lasagna went splat against her face. It was motionless for a second and then went sliding down her neck.

"Ooo ma ma ma," Gus cooed.

Everyone burst out laughing. Deb tried to hide hers by yelling, "Quiet, you little assholes."

Mel, too, tried to hide her mirth. "Oh, ho, ho, sweetie. Here, let me." Mel wiped Lindsay's face with her napkin.

Lindsay looked over at her son. Brian's son. Who was now covered in sauce and cheese, his hair, face, hands, neck, and shirt, and then back at Justin.

Brian was still chuckling, but now he was looking at Justin, too. They were sharing a laugh. At her expense. She decided that she hated Justin. A little.

Justin, no longer annoyed at Mikey, smiled and repeated, "Yeah, so we met at one of my shows, but that's not where we first encountered each other."

Brian, who had a fork up to his mouth, forgot to place it in his mouth. He just held it there, a millimeter away, until a big dollop of sauce dripped onto his plate. The splashback sent a couple of droplets of sauce onto his neck.

Brian muttered, "Fuck!" and dropped his fork back onto his plate with a clank.

Did Justin realize that it had been Brian with him in that alley?

Justin turned to watch Brian wipe his neck with his napkin. Brian frowned at him; Justin smiled brightly. But then, Justin turned back to the gang and said, "I first saw Brian on the subway."

Brian raised an eyebrow.

Justin looked over at Brian and smiled a little shyly. Then he turned back to the gang and said, "Brian looked amazing. Even sitting down, I could tell he had an incredible body ... I could just imagine his perfectly muscled chest and arms … strong but lean, like a Greek god. I knew he'd end up being my muse, with his muscled chest and strong arms and his long, elegant neck, high cheekbones, and flawless bronze skin. And his lips, the perfect shape. I wanted so much for him to kiss me. Oh and his eyes … one minute they looked green and the next they looked brown, flecked with gold. "

Mikey furrowed his brow. "Brian didn't yell at you to stop gaping?"

Justin shook his head and laughed. "He was too consumed by his coffee and his issue of GQ."

Son of a bitch.

Cynthia had responded to the twink's ad. She was toast. Seriously.

Although … Brian must admit, he liked knowing that Justin's first reaction to him, his first comment, was that his was the face of God.

Justin sighed. He was grinning and flushed from remembering his first glimpse of Brian and the subsequent desperate desire. "He was wearing his fawn Armani suit."

Deb laughed. "Guess you are queer. What a straight guy calls tan or beige, a gay man calls fawn."

Justin would have said more, but Brian stabbed a huge piece of lasagna (with his fork) and stuffed it in Justin's mouth. "Mphf."

The last thing Brian needed was for the gang to learn that they'd met through the personals on Craigslist.

Disaster was successfully averted. Well, one disaster. The other, lesser, disaster was that Justin only remained quiet while he was being fed. Justin was not only embarrassed (and you could see it in his cheeks, which were bright red, well redder) but also awed; the wonder was revealed in his wide eyes and shy smile, which resurfaced in between bites.
The gang (all but Gus, who saw nothing wrong with someone else being fed) looked on in horror. None had the power of speech.

Oddly, Brian, in spite of Justin's wonder/embarrassment and the gang's horror, managed to keep his face expressionless. He was a calm blue ocean. That was perhaps most astonishing/terrifying.

Afterward, conversation actually seemed to veer away from Brian and Justin. In fact, it seemed to be the only topic on which the gang did not wish to converse. Brian, however, was not safe. Not by a long shot. Mel spat out, "So asshole over there!"

Lindsay chastised, "Mel! Language!"

"So the A-S-S-H-O-L-E over there missed Gus's first step. Of course."

Brian shrugged. "I saw the video."

Lindsay frowned. "How can you be so cavalier about it? Your son's life, and all his milestones, is passing so quickly!"
Brian said, with a calm Lindsay found infuriating, "You made the video for me."

An even more exasperated Lindsay replied, "Well, yeah. But… you should move home. Don't you want to be a part of Gus's life?"

"He's your son, yours and Mel's."

"Brian!"

"That's what the papers you asked me to sign say."

"Well, yeah, but…."

"But what? You want me around until I start talking like he's mine, until I want a say in what happens? Fuck that. I spend time with him when I visit. I watch all the videos. I even talk to him when you call. That's more than most sperm donors do."

Mel droned, "Typical male response." She parroted him, "That's more than most do!" Then she snapped, "I defended a woman recently whose husband rationalized abusing her by saying he could be cheating."

"Mel!"

"What?"

"That's completely unfair."

Mel sighed. "Why do you always defend him?"

To everyone's surprise, Justin said suddenly, softly, "Every kid wants to know their dad."

Mel hissed, "What? Are you saying I'm not enough of a second parent?"

Justin replied, "No."

An expectant silence followed, but Justin simply opened his mouth, waiting for Brian to feed him another piece of his lasagna (he'd finished his own).

Brian laughed then. Long and loud. He smiled after that, too, got everyone else smiling (not Mel), but it was a muted smile. What Justin said hit him in a place he didn't know he had.

TBC...(soon. I have the next part written. Just have to type it and post it, though I have to work, too, so that might delay me)