“Be seated.” The Judge shuffled through the file on her desk. “Ms. Peterson and Ms. Marcus, I see you have retained new counsel.”

“Steven Anderson, your Honor.”

“Mr. Anderson, Mr. Cavanaugh, I presume you both are ready to present your cases.”

“I am, your Honor.”

“Yes, you Honor.”

“Then, Mr. Cavanaugh, you have the floor.”

“Your Honor, it is my client’s intention to prove that his son’s living situation with his mothers is unacceptable. That they have proven over the past year, time and time again, that they have little to no regard to how they have treated the minor child, Gus Peterson-Kinney. So little regard that a month ago, they went away for an overnight trip and left the child at home, alone. If it wasn’t for the fact my client had taught Gus how to call him, there is no telling what might have happened to him. Since that night, Gus has been living with Mr. Kinney and his partner, Justin Taylor and has seemed to flourish. What my client is looking for now is a permanent custody order in his favor. He knows that his lifestyle might be unconventional and admits to having a questionable past, but he is willing to do what he has to in order to make his son happy. To do what is best for Gus and that is something his mother hasn’t been able to do lately.”

“Mr. Anderson, would you like to say a few opening remarks?”

“Thank you, you Honor. First, I just want to say that my clients are extremely sorry for what happened a month ago. They will be the first ones to admit there was no excuse for leaving Gus at home while they went away. But, they also want to say that, because of that incident that they have admitted that they need help in understanding what is going on and are taking steps to fix things. In that respect, they believe that one of the best ways to fix those things is by bringing Gus home and allowing their family to heal. They love their son and never had any intention of harming him. They also believe that Mr. Kinney’s lifestyle is not one that will be a healthy environment for Gus. My clients feel that Mr. Kinney’s history of drug abuse and promiscuous sex will be detrimental to Gus. It is our intention to show you that, no matter how much Mr. Kinney may try and make you believe that he has changed, the fact remains that he hasn’t.”

“Thank you Mr. Anderson. Mr. Cavanaugh, you can call your first witness.”

“I would like to call Brian Kinney.” Brian walked up to the stand, where he was sworn in. “Mr. Kinney, I want you to tell the court, in your own words, why you think it would be in your son’s best interest for you to have full custody of him.”

“When Lindsay had first come to me and ask me to donate sperm so that she and her partner, Melanie Marcus, could have a child, it was on the condition that I wouldn’t have any responsibility towards that child. Melanie and Lindsay would be the ones raising him. Even after Gus was born, I was prepared to sign over my parental rights to Gus because I knew that they would be the best parents that little boy could ask for and my lifestyle wasn’t exactly conducive to having a son.”

“But you didn’t sign over your rights at that point?”

“No. When I went over to their house to sign the papers, they had Gus sitting on top of the table and, I looked over at him and, I can’t describe it. There was just something. I couldn’t do it. I told them that I changed my mind and that I wanted to try and be a father to Gus. I still let them be the primary parents. I wasn’t prepared to change my life at the time and he was better off with them. Then Melanie decided that she wanted to have a child. They asked me to be the father again, even after all the hassle of before, but because Melanie was going to be the one carrying the child this time, I told them no. They chose my friend Michael Novatny to father the child, Annie. They swore that they wouldn’t favor one child over the other, but ever since Annie was born, I’ve had to watch as Gus got pushed further and further aside until it got to the point that they actually forgot about him one night and left him alone.”

“We’ll get to that later. Why didn’t you want to be the father of Melanie’s child?”

“Melanie and I have never gotten along. She doesn’t approve of my lifestyle or my relationship with Lindsay. She hates the fact that Lindsay and I have slept together, even though it was back when we were in college and before they had even met. I think it also has something to do with the fact that Melanie and I have more in common than she wants to admit.”

“Like what?”

“We’re both strong-willed. We want to be in control. We both love Lindsay, although in different ways. We both love Gus. We both have questionable things in our past. We both fought our way up the ladder to reach the top of our chosen fields. But most importantly, Lindsay loves both of us.”

“Why would that bother Ms. Marcus?”

“Because Lindsay has had to choose between us quite a few times, more often than not because Melanie has made her do so. And on quite a few of those occasions, Lindsay has decided in my favor.”

“Can you give the court an example?”

“About a week or so after Gus was born, I received an invitation for his bris. Melanie’s Jewish. There was some Hebrew written on the bottom, but I didn’t pay any attention to it. I just figured that it was some kind of blessing. Then my friend Michael called me and told me that what it actually was saying.”

“What?”

“It was a mention about circumcising Gus.”

“And you had a problem with that?”

“Of course I had a problem with that. They wanted to cut off part of my son and they had never bothered asking me about it. And I knew that it was Melanie’s idea. Neither Lindsay nor I are Jewish. We’re barely religious. I went over to their house and stopped it. Melanie was not happy about that. And she got even angrier when Lindsay ended up siding with me.”

“So Gus wasn’t circumcised?”

“No?”

“Is that the only time when Lindsay has seemed to side with you against her partner?”

“That was the only time she did so directly. There have been other times where her decision to, while not directly support me, but not denounce me have caused problems.”

“Can you give an example?”

“The fact that I would sign over my parental rights is a major one. Melanie was furious but Lindsay didn’t really get that angry over it, but I knew they fought about it. I know it was one of the reasons they had broken up a few months after Gus had been born. Or at least, that’s what they told people. It was often stated that I was the cause for any problems in their relationship, even when I had nothing to do with them.”

“You already stated that Ms. Marcus does not approve of your place in Lindsay and Gus’s life. Has she ever done or said anything in front of Gus about that dislike.”

“More times than anyone can count. She often calls me asshole or bastard in front of him, and those or just some of the more benign names, and that’s just to my face. Gus has told me that he’s heard Melanie and Lindsay often arguing about me when they think that he can’t hear them.”

“And how does this make him feel? Has he said?”

“He hates it. He thinks it means that his mothers hate him too. Justin and I keep telling him that’s not the case. We make sure that he knows that all of his parents love him.”

“Is that why you allow him to spend the night with Debbie Novatny, knowing that she is allowing Ms. Peterson and Ms. Marcus to spend the night also?”

“Yes. I never intended for Gus to stay away from his mothers. I know how much they love him and I know that they didn’t intend for Gus to get hurt by their actions. The fact that they are so willing to seek help only confirms that and I want to make sure Gus has everything that he needs.”

“What if the courts decide that it would be in Gus’s best interest for him to go back to his home with his mothers?”

“I wouldn’t be happy with that decision because I don’t think that it is in Gus’s best interest right now to live with Lindsay and Melanie, but I would do my bets to make sure that he knows that Justin and I will always be there for him and that he should feel free to let us know when he needs anything.”

“Mr. Anderson has stated that he plans on showing how your lifestyle isn’t conducive to a healthy home for Gus. He stated that you are a drug abuser and are promiscuous. Can you tell us about your lifestyle?”

“I don’t have the best record of healthy living, I’ll admit that. I have used drugs.”

“What kind of drugs, Mr. Kinney?” Judge Fox interrupted.

“Pretty much anything I could get my hands on. E. Poppers. Special K. But I never did any of that when Gus was around. And I haven’t touched anything stronger than pot in a year.”

“Why is that?”

“I don’t know. I guess it had something to do with starting my own agency. I couldn’t party as much as I had before. Then I was diagnosed with testicular cancer and was going through radiation treatment. Anything stronger than pot didn’t agree with the therapy. After my doctor told me I was okay, Melanie began having problems with the pregnancy and I was taking on more responsibility in regards to Gus. He began spending more time over at the loft and there was no way I was going to do anything while he was there. I grew up with alcoholic parents and I know what its like to have the people that are supposed to care about you lose themselves in their need to drink. I didn’t want Gus to have to deal with that. He was already worried about what was going on with Mel. Then, when Mel went into labor early, the doctors weren’t sure if she and Annie were going to make it, Lindsay spent all her time at the hospital, and I took care of Gus. There wasn’t any need for me to go back to the life I was living before that.”

“That was the life that included the promiscuous sex, correct?”

“Yeah.”

“Mr. Kinney, can you tell the court exactly how many sex partners you’ve had over the course of your life.”

“Not really.”

“And why is that Mr. Kinney?” Judge Fox asked.

“Because there were too many to count.”

“Can you give me an estimate?

“Well, I would say I had about twenty-five to thirty tricks a month since I was about twenty-two.” A murmur went through the crowded court room. The Judge banged her gavel.

“Silence please. Mr. Kinney, are you telling me that you have had over three thousand lovers?”

“Give or take.” Judge Fox wrote something down.

“Your Honor, I think Mr. Kinney’s own admission of using dugs and the shear number of his sexual partners are an indication that Gus would not be safe in his home.”

“Mr. Anderson, you’ll have your chance to question Mr. Kinney. Please be quiet.”

“Your Honor, I love my son. I would do anything to make him happy. I’ll admit my past isn’t the best but I have changed. I don’t do the drinking or the drugs that I have in the past and I haven’t had a sex partner other that Justin in over six months. I’ve learned that I don’t need that part of my life anymore. As my partner would tell you, I’ve grown up.”

“Your partner is Justin Taylor, correct?” Mark took over the questioning again.

“Yes.”

“And how long have you and Mr. Taylor been together.”

“Justin and I have been together, off and on, for a little over four years. In fact, we met the same night that Gus was born. It was Justin who helped give Gus his name. She and Mel were trying to decide between Abraham and Gus.” Brian smiled as he remembered that night. “Justin said that he wouldn’t survive a day at school with the name of Abraham but that maybe Gus would be okay.”

“You said that you’ve been together off and on. Can you explain that?”

“When we first met, I wasn’t prepared to have someone in my life, let alone a seventeen year-old twink. That would be Justin, by the way. Justin just wouldn’t take no for an answer. He basically barged his way into my life. When his father kicked him out of the house for being gay, and involved with me, Justin moved in with me. That didn’t last. He began to live with Debbie Novatny, but he still spent more nights at the loft that I can remember. I even showed up at his prom.”

Brian didn’t want to talk about what had happened at the prom and he had told Mark that. He didn’t understand what the bashing, and its aftermath, had to do with gaining custody of Gus. Mark had explained that Melanie and Lindsay’s lawyer was trying to prove that Brian and Justin’s relationship wasn’t stable and that the two men were basically fuck buddies. It was Mark’s intention to show that the feelings involved went deeper than that.

“What happened at Justin’s prom, Mr. Kinney?”

“Objection, your Honor. I don’t see what any of this has to do with the custodial issue. Mr. Taylor isn’t a party to this action, only Mr. Kinney.”

“I have to agree, Mr. Cavanaugh.”

“Your Honor, Mr. Anderson has stated in his briefs that he plans on proving that Mr. Kinney and Mr. Taylor’s relationship is based solely on sex and that they are only stating they are partners now to gain custody of Gus. I want to show that they have been in a long-standing relationship, with all the ups and downs, just as Ms. Peterson and Ms. Marcus.”

“Continue. You may answer the question, Mr. Kinney.”

“I showed up at Justin’s prom. We danced one dance and then left. Justin walked me out to my jeep where we made plans to meet up later after he had dropped off his friend Daphne Chanders, who had gone to the prom as his date. As he was walking away, one of his classmates, Chris Hobbs, came up from behind and hit him over the head with a baseball bat.” Brian choked up a bit as he thought back to that night. He could still see the events in his head. The sound of the bat as it struck. “Justin was in a coma for two weeks and in rehab for a couple of months. When he got out, he went to live with his mother.”

“And your relationship with Mr. Taylor at the time? Did you go see him?”

“I went to the hospital every night,” Brian admitted, startling almost everyone in the courtroom. “Justin never knew I was there. Nobody knew I was going to see him. I found out later that his mom, Jennifer, knew I was there but didn’t say anything because she also knew that Justin was fighting so hard to get better so that he could see me.”

“When did Justin move back in with you again?”

“Justin was having problems with nightmares. He also couldn’t stand being around people. He hated large crowds. I was the only one that Justin let touch him and I helped him. I encouraged him to start drawing again. Even bought him a computer to help with his art. Things were good for awhile.”

“Justin moved out again, though, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“Why was that?”

“Justin and I were having problems. A lot of them and we weren’t communicating. He found someone else that could give him what he wanted at the time.”

“So what you are saying is that Mr. Taylor left you to be with someone else?” Brian nodded his head. “How long were you and Mr. Taylor apart?”

“A couple of months, but just because we weren’t a couple anymore, Justin and I were still in touch. I had hired him to make a poster for a charity event I was promoting. Justin even helped clear my name when my nephew falsely accused me of molesting me. And I was still paying his tuition.”

“So the two of you still cared about each other?”

“Yes.”

“Mr. Taylor recently moved back in with you, correct?”

“Yes. After Justin and Ethan, that’s the man he had been with, broke up, Justin had moved in with Daphne. After we had been together for awhile I had asked him if he would move back in with me, he spent most nights at my place and I had a lot of his things there already, but Justin said that he didn’t want to move back into the loft just yet. That it held too many bad memories for him and I couldn’t argue with him. That’s one of the reasons I had no problem in finding a new place to live. I did it for Justin just as much as I did it for Gus. I wanted someplace for both of them to feel comfortable in.”

“Mr. Kinney, can you tell us what happened the afternoon of Gus’s fourth birthday party?”

“Justin and I arrived at Lindsay and found Gus walking down the sidewalk. Alone. When we asked what he was doing out there, he said that he didn’t want to stay at the party because all anyone was doing was paying attention to his sister, Annie.”

“And what did you and Mr. Taylor do?”

“We had already made arrangements with Lindsay and Melanie to take Gus for the weekend, so we just brought him to the loft.”

“And do you know how long it was until it was noticed that Gus was absent?”

“I’m not positive but I know that Lindsay finally called me about two hours after we found him.”

“You honor, at this time I would like to give you an affidavit stating that I was present at the time Ms. Peterson contacted my client in regards to her missing son.”

“So noted, Mr. Cavanaugh.”

“And what did Ms. Peterson have to say when you told her that you had Gus?”

“She was relieved that I had him, but she was upset that I didn’t let her know we were leaving. I tried explaining to her what had happened but she didn’t want to admit that anything was wrong.”

“Did things get any better?”

“A little but then they left him at home alone while they went away for the night.”

“Can you tell us about that?”

“Justin and I had just moved into the house when my cell phone rang. It was Gus and he was scared and crying. He was saying how he had woken up and there was nobody there. I had Justin call you while I stayed on the phone with Gus. We raced over to the house where the police had already arrived. One of their neighbors came over trying to find out what was going on and that’s when we learned that the girls had gone away for a little over night trip. They had left Annie with the neighbor. Luckily the neighbor had a key so we could get in.

“It turned out that Gus had come home from his friend’s where he had been playing. When he got home, he had gone upstairs to his room where he had fallen asleep. For some reason, Melanie had forgotten that he was even home so that when she and Lindsay were making arrangements for Annie they never realized that they needed to worry about Gus too.”

“When did Ms. Marcus and Ms. Peterson return home?”

“They got back just as Justin and I were getting ready to take Gus home with us. The social worker that had arrived from CPS said that she would allow us to take Gus home instead of forcing him to go to a temporary foster home. Melanie and Lindsay said that they had gotten about halfway to Hershey before Melanie remembered that Gus was home in his room.”

“And what was Ms. Peterson’s reaction to her son’s abandonment?”

“She looked upset, especially when Gus refused to go near her. I know she was hurt by that. I don’t know if she and Melanie argued about it but I do know that Mel is still living at the house and would be taking care of Gus at times.”

“Do you trust Ms. Marcus to take care of your son?”

“I know Mel says that she loves Gus but trust her to take care of Gus? That would have to be no.”

“Thank you.”

“Your witness, Mr. Anderson.”

“Thank you, your Honor. Mr. Kinney, you keep talking about how much you care about your son. How you wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. That your lifestyle of drug abuse and sexual promiscuity wouldn’t affect your son, but isn’t it true that you once left your son with Mr. Taylor when he was only an infant to attend something called the “Leather Ball” at Babylon.”

“Yes.”

“And isn’t it also true that Ms. Marcus arrived at your home only to find Mr. Taylor about to feed Gus milk that was too hot.”

“Yes.”

“And you call this making sure your son was safe?”

“I hadn’t originally planned on going to the club but my father had just told me that he was dying of cancer. I had also just told him I was gay and he told me that I should have been the one dying. I needed to get out for a bit. And Gus was safe with Justin, but Melanie didn’t want to see that. Instead she took him out of my home, without my permission.”

“Moving on,” Stevenson quickly, not wanting Brian to explain his statement. “Mr. Kinney, you stated that you hadn’t intended on being a father to your son. If that was the case, why did you interrupt the bris?”

“Because I wasn’t going to let them do that to my son. He was barely a week old and they already were trying to change him. Not to mention, they had never talked to me about what they were planning on doing.”

“But if you were going to sign over your rights, why would you care?”

“He was still my son.”

“Mr. Kinney, has your son ever been subjected to any of your sexual partners?”

“Yes, he has seen some of my former sex partners.” Brian couldn’t help but smirk. He had an idea of where the attorney was going to try and go with his question.

“And yet you don’t think your lifestyle will affect him? Just how many times has your son been in the home with one of your lovers?”

“Gus has seen four of my sex partners.”

“How can you be so sure of that?”

“Because one of those is Justin. One is Ben Bruckner, Annie’s other father.”

“And the other two?”

“They were tricks that was in my apartment when Lindsay decided to pay me a surprise visit. And I couldn’t get rid of them fast enough. I didn’t want them anywhere near Gus.”

“Have you ever done drugs while your son was in your home?”

“No. Never.”

“But you did say that you use them.”

“Used to. Like I said, other than an occasional joint I don’t do any of the hard stuff anymore.”

“Mr. Kinney, you stated that the reason Ms. Marcus doesn’t like you is that she is jealous of the relationship between you and Ms. Peterson, but isn’t it true that time and time again you purposely tried to interfere in their relationship, hoping to break them up.”

“No.”

“Isn’t the reason you refused to give up your paternal rights to Gus is because you wanted to get between my clients?”

“No, I didn’t want to give up my rights because Gus is my son and I didn’t want to cut my ties to him. If I had signed away my rights, Mel and Linds could have kept him away from me and there wouldn’t have been anything I could have done about it.”

“Then why did you refuse to give my clients money for Gus’s day school this past July?”

“I didn’t refuse to give them the money. I told them to give me the information for the school and that I would then pay the tuition to the school directly. They didn’t like that idea.”

“Why would you rather pay the school instead of allowing my clients to pay?”

“Because I wanted to make sure that the money would be used for Gus but they never gave me the information.”

“Why would you doubt that the money would be used for its intended purpose? Didn’t you trust my clients to have Gus’s best interests in heart?”

“I know that they say they have Gus’s best interests, but I also knew that at the same time they were asking me for the money, they were also looking to get a new car. I figured if they needed the money for Gus that badly that Melanie would be willing to ask me, that they would have been willing to forgo getting a new car. And they didn’t and Gus is going to school part time.” The lawyer frowned as he realized that his questioning of Brian wasn’t going the way he wanted it to.

“Mr. Kinney, you stated that you had found Gus wandering up and down the street in front of his home during his fourth birthday party. Why didn’t you take him back to his house? Why did you take him home with you?”

“I didn’t take him back to the party because Gus didn’t want to go back. I also didn’t want to subject him to watching everyone ignore him even more in favor of his little sister. I had been watching them do it over and over again for the past couple of months and I couldn’t do it anymore. It was why I had called Mark that night to start the custody proceedings.”

“Yes, but why didn’t you let anyone know that you were taking Gus? You just let them think that something had happened to him. Do you call this responsible?”

“I already had permission to take Gus for the weekend so I didn’t see any harm in taking him back to the house. As for not letting any know about it, I didn’t really care about their reactions. Their ignoring Gus was the reason he was walking alone as it was, I didn’t think they had any right to know where he was.”

“Mr. Kinney, isn’t it true that you were raised in an abusive home? That both of your parents were alcoholics?”

“Yes, but I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

“Did you know that children raised in an abusive home often grew up to abuse their own children?”

“I would never hurt Gus. I’ll admit that one of the reasons I didn’t think I could be a good father was because of the examples of parenting that I had, but I think that growing up with Jack and Joan Kinney showed me what not to do in regards to raising Gus. It’s why I don’t drink or do drugs while Gus is with me. Well, one of the main reasons. I don’t want Gus to think there is anything wrong with him to make his parents not love him.”

“You say that you would never hurt Gus. Do you consider yourself a violent man?”

“Not really, but I will defend myself.”

“Isn’t it true that, in front of your son, you hit Michael Novatny for no reason?”

“No.”

“Mr. Kinney, there are witnesses to this encounter. Are you denying that you hit him?”

“No, I’m not denying that I hit Michael. What I’m denying is that I didn’t have a reason.”

“And what reason would you have had to strike at what most consider your best friend?”

“I would rather not say.”

“Mr. Kinney, please answer the question,” Judge Fox ordered.

“The party was the first time that Justin and I had seen each other after we had broken up. He was there with Ethan, the boy he left me for.” Brian looked over at his lover, who only smiled at him. Brian took a deep breath and continued. “Michael was talking about how he couldn’t believe that Justin had shown up, let alone brought Ethan with him. I kept trying to get him to be quiet but he just kept going on and on about it. Then he said…he said…”

“Mr. Kinney,” the judge said gently.

“Michael said that it would have been better if I had left Justin lying on the garage floor.” A stunned gasp broke out among the audience, causing the judge to bang her gavel to silence them.

“Quiet please. Mr. Stevenson, your next question please.”

“Yes your Honor,” the lawyer replied, trying to back track. He tried to regain his line of thought since Brian’s questioning hadn’t gone the way he had thought it would.

“Mr. Kinney, you own your own advertising agency, correct?”

“Yes.”

“That must keep you pretty busy. Long hours I would imagine. An occasional business trip.”

“Yes.”

“And how do you expect to take care of Gus during these hours?”

“The same way I have now. I’ve cut back on my hours at the office and the work I do bring home; I save to do after Gus has gone to bed. On those days when I can’t avoid staying at the office, Justin has made sure to be home. I’ve also taken Gus into the office a few times. My employees seem to like him. As for business trips, there really aren’t that many and the few that I have, depending on where they are, I can make arrangements and that does include seeing if Melanie and Lindsay would like to take care of Gus. I already said that I didn’t intend on separating Gus from his mothers and I meant it.”

“So, if you would trust your son into his mothers’ care while you’re away, why do you not trust them to raise him permanently?”

“Because I don’t trust them to continue doing what they have in the past.”

“And what’s that?”

“Take Gus for granted.”

“No other questions your Honor,” Stevenson said, not happy with what was said but knowing that he was going to have to wait and come up with something else to rattle Brian and his case.