To any passers-by, the gathering appeared to be a birthday for the young child that was being fussed and fawned over by all the guests that had gathered. It was obvious that the child was loved and well cared for and people smiled as they saw it. Unfortunately not all was as it appeared. What they didn’t see was the unhappy four years old who watched as his family paid no attention to him, instead focusing on his young sister. Unseen tears fell from his face as he realized that the party that was supposed to have been for his birthday, was instead going to be another day where he would be ignored in favor of young Annie Michelle Novatny-Marcus.

Gus made his way out of the back yard where his family was fawning over his little sister. He kept looking back, hoping that someone would notice his leaving and try and stop him, but he wasn’t exactly surprised when no one did. In the little under a year since her arrival, Gus had learned what all young children fear. That it was indeed possible that when a new child is brought into the house, the eldest can be soon forgotten. Well, maybe not forgotten, but at least pushed aside. The young boy knew that he was loved by his family, but he noticed the change in the way people treated him away. The first time his Grandma Debbie had come over after Annie had gotten home, Gus had immediately gone over to her to get his customary hug and kiss, only to be told that she wanted to her granddaughter and that she would pick him up in a minute. That minute never came.

“Hey Sonny boy, what are you doing out here, all by yourself?” Brian asked, picking up his son and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Daddy,” Gus exclaimed, smiling for the first time that day. He looked over Brian’s shoulder, his smile getting bigger when he saw the blond man that was there. “Da Justin.”

“Hey Kiddo.” Gus allowed himself to be exchanged from one strong set of arms to another, happy to be with the only two people that seemed to want to be with him more than his sister. “Why are you out here instead of at your party?”

“All Annie,” Gus pouted, confident that his daddies would understand. And he was right. Brian and Justin shared a look, having witnessed on many occasions Gus being ignored by the rest of his family in favor of the prodigal daughter, as they began to call the child of Melanie Marcus and Michael Novatny. It was something that upset both men, but neither one of them knew what they could do about it. They had brought it up to Mel and Lindsay, but both women swore that Gus was just overreacting and that they loved both their children equally. It was just that Annie was so small and young that she required more attention, especially since Gus was getting ready to start school. That argument didn’t hold water with either male.

“You know that’s not true, Gus,” Brian tried to reassure his son, but even he didn’t believe what he was saying.

“I bet everyone’s looking for you right now, wondering where you are,” Justin joined in, tickling Gus trying to get him to laugh, but it didn’t work that well.

“Stop Da,” Gus commanded, his face still showing his frown even though he was giggling. When he crossed his arms and began to pout again, it took most of Brian and Justin’s self control not to laugh at his antics. “I hate her.”

“Oh Gus, you know that’s not true,” Justin said, looking over at his lover helplessly.

“Uh huh,” Gus promised. “No one loves me. Only Annie.”

“Christ,” Brian swore. He turned away from Justin and Gus, not wanting his son to see how angry he was. He had known since the moment Annie had first come home from the hospital that things were not going to be okay in the household. While he and Justin always made sure to try and not show favoritism among the siblings, although they weren’t always successful because Gus was Brian’s biological child, they watched as the rest of their extended family didn’t seem to have that same goal. On many occasions when the group of friends got together, it was obvious which of the two children they wanted to see. Michael and Debbie were constantly over at the Munchers, bringing Annie gifts, completely ignoring Gus. Ted and Emmett often did the same thing when they were there.

Annie Marcus had been born 10 months before, after a somewhat difficult pregnancy. Melanie had refused to stop working, no matter what her doctor, Lindsay or Michael had said, and the pressure that she was under in regards to some of her cases left her body unable to deal with the pregnancy has easily as she would have liked. She was forced to have a caesarean done before her due date and little Annie was born underweight. Everyone kept vigil over the tiny infant, and the recovering mother not even thinking about what her big brother might be going through knowing that one of his mommies was sick. It fell upon Brian and Justin to look after the little boy and they could see how he was already beginning to feel displaced by the newest member of his family.

When Annie was finally brought home, things didn’t improve for him. While Melanie was spending more time at home recovering, it was time spent with her daughter, leaving Gus to fend for himself and she never even realized it. Gus began to ask to spend the night with his Daddy and his Da, much to both Lindsay and Mel’s disapproval, and there were many nights where the young boy would listen to his mothers fighting, crying himself to sleep. He hated hearing his Ma calling his Daddy bad names, but there was nothing he could do about it. The only thing he could do was tell his Daddy and that was what he had done, and Brian had been livid. He had gone over to speak to the two women about what Gus had said and was told, in no uncertain terms, that he was to “fuck off” and let them deal with their family in their own way. And Brian had made the mistake of listening to them. That is, until now.

Brian looked over his shoulder and watched as Justin rocked Gus, calming him until the four year old was almost asleep. Justin looked up, his blue eyes meeting Brian’s hazel ones, an unspoken question in them. Brian nodded, taking out his phone and hitting speed dial.

“Hello.”

“Linds, it Brian.”

“Brian where are you? You’re late.” IN the background Brian could hear Mel screaming, “You tell that asshole that he better not even think of not coming.”

“I’m on my way. I just thought I would call to say hi to Gus before I got there.” Brian hoped that Lindsay didn’t think of his request as odd, but the blonde woman appeared to be as clueless as ever.

“Oh how sweet.”

“So, where is Sonny boy?”

“Oh he’s around here someplace,” she answered, and Brian could tell she was shrugging her shoulders and tried to contain his anger. Here he was, speaking to the mother of his four year old, who was supposed to be hosting the young boy’s birthday party and she didn’t even know that Gus had been away from the house for over a half an hour. “He’s just playing hide and seek. But I bet he can’t wait for you to get here.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Look Linds, I have to go. Talk to you soon.” Before she could say anything else, Brian hung up. “Fucking bitch.”

“Brian?”

“She hasn’t even realized that he’s not there. She doesn’t even care where her kid is,” Brian growled. Justin had never seen his lover that angry and was glad that it wasn’t directed at him. But he was also pissed off in his own right, thinking about what Gus had to be going through.

“What are we going to do?” Brian looked over at his lover holding his son, thinking for a moment before coming to a decision. One that he hoped Justin would be able to support.

“We take Gus and head back to the loft and then we call my attorney.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s obvious that the Munchers have no intention of taking care of Gus, so I’m just going to make sure that there is someone who will.”

“Who?”

“Us.”