“I didn’t think it would ever get this far,” Brian said suddenly, startling Justin who looked down at him. The blond joined his lover on the bench and began rubbing Brian’s back; trying to help ease some of the tension he could feel coursing through Brian’s body. “I didn’t think they would make me take it this far. I mean, Linds is Gus’ fucking mother and Mel always made a point of telling everyone that she was Gus’ mother too. I knew that having Annie would change some things, but I honestly thought that once I showed them what the fuck was going on, that they would fix it. That they would do everything they could to make sure that they let Gus know that they loved him just as much as they did Annie.”

“Brian, you had every right to expect that the girls would treat Gus the same as they did Annie,” Justin assured his lover. “Gus is their son. They’ve been the ones raising him and they always made sure that you knew that they were the ones responsible for Gus, not you. It’s not your fault that they couldn’t do that.”

“I know,” Brian said. “It’s just that Gus deserves better than this. He deserves to have a stable home and people that love him. He shouldn’t have to be question by strangers about his home life.” Brian looked towards the doorway that Gus had disappeared behind, his thoughts going back to what was happening back there. He wished he could be back there with his son, but understood the reasons why he couldn’t. “I think I’m just afraid of what the judge is going to decide. There’s a good chance, even with what has happened, that she’ll give Gus to his mothers. A lot of people think that children should be with their mother when it comes to custody.”

“Well, not in this case,” Justin stated. “Mark told us that this judge is fair and we made our case. We proved that Gus is better off with you than with them, at least for now.” Brian nodded his head, not sure what else to say. Justin went quiet beside him and son both men’s thoughts drifted to the little boy that was currently being questioned about his parents.

In the chambers of Judge Patricia Fox, the young boy in question was busy fidgeting in the chair he had been asked to sit in. His father had told him that he was going to be asked some questions and that he wanted Gus to answer truthfully, no matter what. Gus looked around at the people in the room with him, afraid that he had done something wrong, even though he was told he hadn’t.

“Gus, do you know why you’re here?” the Judge asked the boy, her voice calm in her hopes of no scaring him.

“My daddy told me that I was s’posed to answer questions,” Gus answered. “He told me to tell the truth.”

“That’s right, Gus,” Judge Fox said. “I want to talk to you about what it’s like living with your father and Justin.”

“I loves living with Daddy and Daddy Jussin,” the boy stated happily. “They spend lots of time with me. Daddy Jussin painted pictures on my walls and Daddy reads to me at night and we watch movies and Daddy and Jussin are going to take me to the zoo.” Judge Fox smiled at the happiness that was evident in the little boy’s voice.

“So you like living with your father?” Gus nodded his head.

“Don’t you miss your mommies though?” Gus’ smile disappeared and the Judge was surprised by the difference.

“They don’t love me anymore,” Gus said quietly. “They love Annie now.”

“Gus, what makes you think that your mothers don’t love you now that Annie is living there?”

“Mommy never home and Mama ignores me.” The Judge looked over at the two attorneys in the room, silently asking for clarification as to which woman was Mommy and Mama.

“Gus refers to Miss Peterson as mommy while Ms. Marcus is mama,” Mark told her.

“Gus, what do mean that your Mama ignores you? What does she do?”

“She just plays with Annie or works. She yells at me if I make noise. She forgets I’m there.” The Judge watched as Gus sniffled, a couple of tears falling down his face as he thought about the women who raised him. “They left me alone.”

“Gus, are you talking about when you called your father? The night you started living with him?” Gus nodded his head.

“Daddy come get me and told Mommy and Mama that he was taking me home with him and Daddy Jussin. He showed me my new room and told me that he would make sure that I would be safe.”

“Gus, how did you know to call your Daddy? How did you know his number?”

“Daddy showed me how to call him. He told me he wanted me to know case I wanted to talk to him or Daddy Jussin. Told me to use in case of emer..emerg…in case I got in trouble.”

“That’s very smart of him, and you must be a very smart boy to remember how to do that. Did your mommies teach you how to call them if you needed to?” Gus shook his head.

“No.”

“Gus, is Annie the only reason you don’t think your mommies love you?”

“Mama doesn’t like Daddy. She keeps calling him names and saying how I just like him. If Mama hate Daddy, she hate me.”

“What makes you think your Mama hates your Daddy?”

“I heard her say it,” Gus said simply. “Mama said she hated Daddy and she wished she never heard his name.”

“What about your Daddy, Gus? Does he call your Mama bad names?”

“I heard him a couple of times, but he says he’s sorry when he sees me,” the little boy answered. “He doesn’t yell like Mama though. Her and Mommy fight lots.”

“They do? Do you know what they fight about?”

“Lots of times they fight about Daddy. Mama says Mommy loves Daddy more than her.”

“Gus, if you had your choice, who would you rather live with. Your father or your mommies?”

“I miss Mommy and Mama but I like living with Daddy and Daddy Jussin. They love me and do things with me. And I love my room there.”

“Okay, thank you Gus for talking to me. It was really nice meeting you. You seem like a bright little boy and I can see why your parents love you.” Judge Fox turned her attention to the two attorneys. “Mr. Cavanaugh you may take Gus back out to his father. This court will be in recess for fifteen minutes while I go over everything. My decision will come when we go back in session.”

Mark took Gus’s hand and led him down the hallway, back to his father. As soon as Brian and Justin were in his sight, Gus ran to them. Brian smiled as he bent down to pick his son up, swinging the little boy in his arms. Justin looked over at Melanie and Lindsay, who were watching from the opposite side of the hallway. He could see how much they wanted to come join the men but didn’t want to call them over. After the near disaster that was the lunch break, Justin didn’t think either man could handle any more stress. The blond couldn’t believe the way Melanie was acting towards both of them. He had thought, like Brian, that once both women saw what their attitudes towards Brian was doing to Gus, they would do what they could to correct their behavior, but Melanie still refused to change her attitude. Justin did give her credit for trying, but knew that it still wasn’t enough and he wasn’t positive that it would last. Justin turned his attention back to Brian and Gus in time to hear the brunet ask his son how things went.

“I told the truth like you told me too, Daddy,” Gus told his father. “I told her I like living with you and Daddy Justin and about the pictures in my room.”

“That’s good, Gus,” Brian said, smiling at his son. Hearing Gus say that he liked living with him pleased Brian. To him, it let him know that he must be doing something right and that maybe he wouldn’t turn out to be like his own father. Brian turned to Mark. “So what happens now?”

“Well, in a few minutes you’ll be finding out it you get to take Gus home with you for good.”

“Okay. That’s good,” Brian said, his nerves coming back tenfold. “Is it okay for us to bring Gus into the courtroom? I told Cynthia that she could go home for the day.”

“It should be fine,” Mark assured Brian. “In fact, why don’t we head in now? The judge should be on the bench soon.” Brian picked Gus up, holding him to the side while Justin moved to join him. Brian held Gus tightly for a minute, knowing that there could be a good chance that he wouldn’t be taking his son home with him.

“It’ll be okay, Brian,” Justin told the brunet. “You’ll see.”

“I hope so, Justin.” Brian handed Gus over to Justin so that he could take his seat at the attorney’s table. The two men tried to entertain Gus for the few minutes it would be until the hearing resumed. Before they knew it the bailiff was calling for everyone to rise. Brian took one last look back at his son being held in his lover’s arms before taking a deep breath and turning his attention towards the judge.

“Be seated. First off, I want to say that I have never had to judge a case like. The fact that the petitioner had actually signed over his paternity rights, whether that had been followed through with or not, is usually enough to make my decision for me. In this case, that is not what happened. All parties stated that the reason Mr. Kinney had signed over his parental rights to his son was to help the relationship between Ms. Marcus and Ms. Peterson, for whatever reason. I believe that Mr. Kinney did this, not because he didn’t care for his son, but because he loved him and wanted to make sure that his son grew up in a house filled with love, not because he didn’t want to be a father to him.

“Now, Ms. Peterson and Ms. Marcus have both stated that they were afraid of the kind of influence Mr. Kinney’s lifestyle would have on Gus. Mr. Kinney’s excessive drug use and multiple sexual partners, they said, would put Gus in danger. To that, I have to say, despite Mr. Kinney’s past with those things is questionable; there is no indication that it is still a part of his life. He and Mr. Taylor appear to be in a healthy relationship now and I feel that Mr. Kinney should not be penalized for things he did in his past that does not have an impact on his son.

“Mr. Kinney, on the other hand, stated that he was afraid for his son’s safety, both physically and emotionally, if Gus was to remain with his mothers. After reviewing the facts, including both the testimony given today as well as the Department of Social Services report, I have to say that he has reason to worry.” With that said, Judge Fox faced Melanie and Lindsay.

“Ms. Marcus, I have to say, while I do not doubt that you love Gus, I believe that the ill feelings you have towards Mr. Kinney are affecting the way that you are treating him, especially now that you have your own child. You stated that you are going to counseling to try and work on the problems you seem to be having in raising Gus; I would be lying if I didn’t say the events of October 23rd don’t bother me greatly. Ms. Marcus, I can understand you caring for your daughter, but that does not excuse you for the treatment that you have been giving Gus. It is your job as a parent to make sure that you child knows that he, and she, is loved and that is a job that, by everything I see, you are falling down on. It does not help that you have found it necessary to belittle Mr. Kinney in Gus’ presence shows that you care little for his feelings. How do you expect a little boy to believe that you love him when you go to great lengths to let everyone know what you think of his father? The father that he loves.

“Ms. Peterson, for your part, it is also your job to make your children feel loved, even more so since Gus is your biological child as much as Mr. Kinney’s. Instead of doing what you could to reassure your son of your and your partner’s love, it appears as if you decided to do nothing, hence encouraging Gus’ lack of self-assurance in regards to his mother’s love. I understand that you felt the need to support Ms. Marcus because you didn’t want to cause more damage to your relationship with her, but the fact remains that your main responsibility should have been your son. You have taken steps to rectify that mistake but it still seems to me that there is a lot of room for improvement.

“Now, Mr. Kinney,” Judge Fox said, turning her attention to Brian, “you and Mr. Taylor both stated that you noticed what was happening in the Marcus-Peterson home when it came to their treatment of Gus. You stated that you told both women that there was a problem. You’ve also admitted that your past does include multiple bed partners and drug use. And while that is not an atmosphere that I feel a child should be exposed to, I am also certain that it is something that you haven’t exposed to Gus. You stated that your drug use has decreased significantly and that your only sexual partner is your partner Justin Taylor and I have to say, that everything points to that being the truth. You’ve also gone out of your way to make sure that Gus knows that you love him and will do what it takes to make him feel safe.” Judge Fox looks down at her notes making sure that she hadn’t forgotten anything. Justin reached forward, holding Gus in his lap, resting his hand on Brian’s shoulder in a show of support. Brian grabbed the hand on his shoulder, squeezing it as he waited to hear the decision.

“Now, after saying all of that, it is the decision of this court that full custody of Gus Peterson-Kinney is awarded to Brian Kinney.” A cry rose up from Lindsay as she heard that. Melanie held her wife while the blonde buried her head in Melanie’s shoulder. On the other side of the courtroom, Brian turned and grabbed Gus from Justin, giving his lover a quick kiss. Judge Fox waited a minute before gaining everyone’s attention again. “Now, in regards to visitation rights for Ms. Peterson. It is the order of the court that Ms. Peterson will be able to see Gus, unsupervised, once a week. What day will be determined between the parties? In regards to Ms. Marcus.” The Judge turned her attention to Melanie once more and saw the anger on the brunette woman’s face. "Ms. Marcus, as I stated, the denial you have in any wrong doing on your part in regards to your treatment of Gus troubles me greatly and until it is proven that your attitude has changed I can not, in all good conscience, allow Gus to be left in your care. I am not disallowing you visitation rights with Gus, but those visits will be supervised, whether by Ms. Peterson or another person. That decision will be opened for review in six months, hopefully in that time, Ms. Marcus, you will get the help that you need.

“This court is adjourned.”