Title: Thanks For The Memories (Companion to Halloween Bag of Tricks) Author: Tina Homepage: http://www.oocities.org/weird4182/index.html Pairing: Brian and Justin Rating: PG (language) Category:  General/ Misc/ Other Summary: Justin still knows what he’s doing Archive: Bjfic.net; anyone else is welcome to, just please let me know Disclaimer: If this were a utopian world they could belong to all of us, but it’s not, so they don’t.  Sadly, they belong to Cowlip. Feedback: Yes, please. Send it to Weird4182@yahoo.com Author’s Note:  More holiday fun with the boys ~*~ Two days before Thanksgiving The door to the loft slid open “Brian, we’re here.” “Dada!” “Hey Sonnyboy, are you ready to spend a week with Dada and Jus?”  Brian asked, while picking Gus up for a hug. “Yup!” “Good.  Hey Sunshine.”  Justin leaned up for a kiss.  “Hi.” Gus giggled and squirmed, caught in the embrace between the two men.  Justin laughed and pulled Gus out of Brian’s arms to set him down on the floor.  “Gus why don’t you go put your sleeping bag by the TV, ok?” “Okey, Jus.” Brian and Justin moved over to sit on the couch and watch Gus decide what to do with his belongings.  “So did you see the Munchers off?” “Yeah.  Linds said that they’ll stop by Sunday and pick up Gus on their way home.” “Where did they go again?” “Woodlake Bed & Breakfast.”  Justin sighed.  “They really need this vacation.” Brian looked thoughtful for a moment before agreeing. “Last week at dinner, Mel was really…nice to me.  It kinda freaked me out.  I never really thought that I’d miss her bitching at and berating me.” “Well, Mel’s still pretty out of it.  I hope she’s able to enjoy herself a bit and maybe begin the healing process.” Brian snorted.  “Healing process.  I don’t think anyone can ever recover from losing a child.”  He said this while watching Gus arrange and rearrange his things until their order satisfied him. Justin smiled at Gus’ antics.  “I agree, but if she can’t get even the least bit over Rebecca’s death, it’s going to wind up killing her too.” Brian again looked thoughtful as he watched Gus, who was now reintroducing Letti (his leather bear) to the loft. “I think…” he hesitated.  “I think it wouldn’t have been so bad for her if she hadn’t had to carry Becca until she was full term.  Why’d she have to do that again?” Justin sighed.  “I don’t know.  All they said was that when she had her check up when the baby was 35 weeks they discovered that the cord had wrapped around the baby’s neck and she had already passed.  There’s wasn’t anything they could do for her, but for some reason they couldn’t perform a C-section to remove her.” “Fucking doctors.” “It’s not their fault.  It’s not anyone’s fault.  Shit happens.” Brian raised an eyebrow while he studied Justin for a moment.  “Have you been watching Forrest Gump again?” Justin smacked Brian with the back of his hand.  “Funny.” “Dada, Jus, are you done having serious talk time yet?” “Gus what are you talking about?” “Duh, Jus!  Whenever adults need to have serious talk time, they send me to do stuff that doesn’t really need to be done.  My mommies do it all the time.” “Gus, do you mean that you were just pretending to keep busy?” “Yup!”  Pronounced Gus, looking extremely proud of himself. Justin laughed.  “Well Brian, it’s official.  He’s definitely your son.  He inherited your superior manipulation skills.” “Oh yeah, Sunshine?”  Brian mocked before launching an attack on Justin, intending to tickle him into submission.  Gus watched for a few minutes, cheering his Dada on, until he gleefully joined in. ~*~ The day before Thanksgiving “Honey, I’m home.”  Brian called in a falsetto voice. Justin was cooking in the kitchen but took a moment to great Brian with deep, passionate kiss.  Once they broke apart, Brian went to change his clothes, stopping on the way to deliver a kiss on the top of Gus’ head.  Once Brian had gotten more comfortable, he joined Gus next to the coffee table. “Whatcha doing, Sonnyboy?” “Coloring.”  Gus said, concentrating intently on his work. “Did you have a good day?” “Yeah!”  That question brought Gus’ attention quickly to his father.  “Jus and Mol and me went to the zoo!  And we saw the penguins and the monkeys and the big cats and the seals and the… “You saw a lot of animals, huh?” “Yeah lots and lots.  We even got to pet some too.” “Really?” “Yup, I got to pet a lamb and a goat and a pony.” “It sounds like you had a busy day.” “Uh-huh, and after the zoo we went to Nana Jenn’s house for lunch and Mol and I played with the guy next door’s dog and we watched cartoons and we helped Nana make cookies.” Brian raised an eyebrow.  “You did all that in one day?  You must be pooped.” Gus giggled, and then whispered.  “Dada, you shouldn’t say that word.  It’s not nice.” Brian smiled.  “I’m glad you had fun.  What are you drawing?” Gus held up his picture so that Brian could get a better look at it.  “It’s Jus and me petting a lamb together.  Jus had a camera and Mol took a picture, but those take forever to be ready.” “They do?” “Yeah, but Jus says that when they’re ready, we can make a photo book of pictures from this week, so I can show Mama and Mommy what we did.” “I bet they’ll love it.”  Brian replied giving Gus another kiss on the head.  Brian decided to leave Gus to his work and join ‘Jus’ in the kitchen. “Have fun today?” “Yeah, Molly loves spending time with Gus and Mel and Linds hate taking him to the zoo, since he gets so excited.  Since she had the day off from school, I figured ‘why not?’.  “Did you have fun at your Mommy’s this afternoon.” Justin threw a pecan at Brian.  “If you must ask yes, I did.” “By the way…” Brian waited until Justin looked at him, “Nana Jenn?” Justin looked perplexed.  “What about it?” “When and how did that happen?” Justin sighed.  “Mom baby sits for Gus sometimes.  If you’re at work and I have a project they call my mom since her hours are really flexible.  One time while she was watching him, he asked her if since he called Deb, Gamma D, could he call her Nana Jenn.  Mom talked to the girls about it and they said it was fine with them if that’s what Gus wanted.” “Hrmph.  Nobody asked me.”  Brian mumbled. Justin stopped what he was doing and met Brian’s gaze.  “Does it really bother you?  Because if it does, then you get to explain to Gus why he can’t call his Nana, ‘Nana’.” Brian thought for a few minutes.  “I guess it doesn’t really matter.  Both Jenn and Deb care more about him than any of his biological grandparents.  Why shouldn’t he be allowed two surrogate ones?” Justin smiled.  “Don’t forget that Vic’s honorary Grandpa.” “Of course not.”  Brian smirked, “Now what the fuck are you making?” “Pies for tomorrow.” “Tomorrow?” Justin sighed and rolled his eyes.  “Yes, Brian tomorrow.  Thanksgiving.  Turkey, pies, yams, is any of this ringing a bell?” “Oh, yeah.  So are you going to your mom’s?” Justin sighed, this time with irritation.  “Do you ever listen to me outside of the bedroom?  Gus and I are going to my mom’s tomorrow.  We’re going to go over at about noon, we’ll have dinner at around five and probably be home around eight.” “Ok…wait why is Gus going with you.” Justin chucked another pecan at Brian and laughed as it bounced off his forehead. “Mel and Linds left with specific instructions that Gus have a traditional Thanksgiving family dinner.” “What about Deb’s?” Justin glared at Brian for a moment before telling him information that had already been given. “Deb and Vic went to Rodney’s sisters’ in Cleveland for the weekend.  Ben took Michael and Hunter to Philadelphia.  He knew that Michael needed to get out of Pittsburgh for a bit, just like Mel, so he used the excuse of going to see his publisher.” “So you’re going to your mom’s.” “Brian, I haven’t had Thanksgiving with my mom and sister in three years.  It was about time that I did.  Even if Deb were having a dinner I would still be going.  Besides it should be a nice meal with the six of us.” “Six?” “Mom, Molly, Daph, Emmett, Gus and Me.” Brian looked perplexed.  “Emmett?” “Ever since mom helped Emmett and Ted buy the house and when Mom sold the house for them and she got them a good price, they’ve been somewhat close.  And they give each other business.  Mom recommends Emmett to clients interested in having a house warming or any other time of party, as well as her friends and vice versa.  Since Ted went to visit his mom and everyone else is out of town, he took mom up on her invitation.” “And Daphne?” Justin began stirring the pecans into the mixture he made while speaking.  “Her dad had to go on a last minute business trip to London and her mom decided to go too.  They wanted Daph to go also, but she has a major term paper that she’s planning to spend the week getting started on.”  Justin inconspicuously glanced at Brian.  “You know, you were invited too.” “I don’t fucking think so.” “Suit yourself.  Ya going to order in Thai and watch TV, since everywhere else, including the baths are closed?” “Maybe.”  Brian frowned thinking that maybe he was getting too predictable.  “So what are you making anyway?” “Carmel Pecan Pie.  Vic gave me the recipe and guaranteed that it would be delicious.  I also made a Double-Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake that he recommended.” “Well have fun tomorrow.” Justin met Brian’s gaze.  “You too.” ~*~ Thanksgiving Brian stretched at his desk.  So far he had spent practically the whole day working.  Well, not really working, just tweaking campaigns that didn’t really need to be tweaked.  He glanced at the clock and saw that it was 4:15.      ‘Where the fuck is the delivery guy?  How many people could have possible ordered Chinese takeout today?  Ha.  So much for Justin thinking he knows me so well.  Chinese takeout and work, not what he thought I’d do.’ But the thought didn’t bring Brian any joy.  As hard as he was trying not to, he felt really lonely today and almost wished that he celebrated holidays. ‘Fuck that.  Brian Kinney doesn’t do holidays.’ Brian thought this as he began to wander around the loft and randomly pick up items.  He smiled when he went through the drawings that Gus had made on the coffee table.  Gus and Justin petting the lamb.  Gus and Molly holding a piglet.  At least Brian assumed that it was Molly, since Gus had drawn someone with blue eyes and long gold and red hair.  Brian sifted through the papers and came across some a drawing that Justin had done.  He smiled as he always did when he saw a drawing that Justin had done by hand.  ‘That’s my boy.’  Brian’s smile grew even bigger when he saw what the drawing was of.  It was Brian and Gus from the night before.  They had been watching Cinderella for the umpteenth time, since Gus loved his namesake mouse and they had fallen asleep.  Brian had been holding Gus against his chest while they had lain on the couch.  Identical eyes, noses and mouths were all soft, sweet and innocent looking. Brian sighed and put the drawing down as someone knocked on the loft door.  After Brian paid the delivery guy he took the food over to the dining room table to eat.  He noticed that the album that Justin was helping Gus put together was there along with the pictures.  Brian took a few minutes to look through the stack.  There they were his two boys, having the time of their lives.  Brian looked at the pictures and then at his lonely bag of takeout.  Making a decision, Brian stuck the bag into the fridge and headed into the bedroom to change into something more presentable.  Once he had, and was putting on his shoes he hesitated, very unsure of himself and his actions.  Brian glanced at the nightstand, intending to judge the time and determine that he would be too late for dinner and that it would be rude to show up, but he caught sight of a picture frame next to the clock.  It showed Justin and Gus laughing, while going down a slide together at the local park.  Brian smiled fondly remembering that day as one of the best ones, taken place shortly after the two reconciled.  A picnic and playing in the park had been much more fun than Brian had anticipated.  Seeing that he still had time, just not as much as before, to make it to Jenn’s, Brian finished up, and hurried out of the loft.  ~*~ “Brian!” “Hi Molly.”  Brian said while leaning down to give her a kiss on the cheek.  He smiled when she blushed at his attention. “Mom!  Justin!  Brian’s here!” “Molly, we were in the kitchen, not Los Angeles.  We could hear you when you answered the door.”  Jennifer scolded.  She gave Brian and quick hug and accepted the kiss on the cheek that he offered her as well as his coat.  Smiling warmly, she said, “I’m so glad you could make it Brian.” “Thank you for inviting me.” Jennifer gazed into Brian’s eyes knowingly.  “With family, there’s always an open invitation.” Brian smiled genuinely and blushed, except that Brian Kinney doesn’t blush of course, and followed Jenn into the dining room.  Daphne greeted Brian a hug and a kiss and Emmett squeezed Brian’s shoulder as he walked by carrying the rolls.  As Brian looked around questioningly, Justin and Gus entered the room.  Justin carrying the turkey and Gus carrying a dish of cranberries.  Both of his boys looked beautiful and happy.  Brian knew it was a sight that he’d never forget.  Soon everyone took a seat.  Brian between his boys on one side and Molly, Daphne and Emmett on the other side with Jennifer at the head of the table.  As tradition, they went around the table saying what they were thankful for.  When they got to the last person, Brian he simply said. “My two boys, true family and memories.” Justin grasped Brian’s hand tightly while everyone smiled. So everyone was serving themselves food and enjoying pleasant conversation.  After a bit Gus had to ask his Jus something. “Jus, since Dada came like you said he would, does that mean that Auntie Em owes you twenty dollars?” Brian dropped his fork and raised his eyebrows while looking at Justin who studiously avoided eye contact.  A quick glance around the table confirmed that no one would look meet his gaze except for Gus, who smiled a Sunshine smile and was maybe a little bit more like his surrogate father than they’d thought.  Brian smiled while he thought ‘My two boys.’ The End Happy Thanksgiving 11/27/03