“Come on in,” Brian said as he slid open the loft door, allowing Mark entrance to his home. The lawyer entered, taking in the surroundings. Justin came to stand by Brian, nervously shifting his balance from one foot to another. He didn’t want to appear too young in front of the man that they hoped would help them make sure that Gus would be taking care of. For his part Mark didn’t even do a double take when Brian wrapped his arm around his nervous lover. He looked over to the painted screens that made up the walls to Gus’s room and smiled at the pictures that were there.

“Nice place you have here,” Mark commented, finally turning his full attention to Brian and Justin.

“Everyone seems to say that when they first get a look at the place,” Brian smirked. “Mark, I want you to meet Justin Taylor. Justin this is Mark Cavanaugh, one of the best family law attorneys in the State of Pennsylvania and my old roommate at Penn.”

“Ahhh, I was wondering how you knew each other,” Justin grinned, shaking Mark’s hand. “Thanks for coming over on such short notice. I hope we didn’t take you away from anything.”

“Nothing that couldn’t wait,” Mark assured the blond before turning back to face Brian. “In fact, I’ve been waiting for you to call since you first told me what was going on. I’ve been looking into a few things on my own while I’ve been waiting. I hope you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine.”

“Good. Now why don’t we all have a seat so we can get started on deciding what we’re going to do,” Mark suggested.

“Good idea,” Justin agreed, seeing how nervous his lover was, not that it was obvious what was happening. “Before we do though, can I get anyone anything to drink?”

“I’m fine.” “No thanks,” were the answers so the blond just followed the other two men to the living area where they all took a seat. Brian and Justin sat together on the sofa while Mark took one of the chairs. The attorney set his briefcase on the coffee table in front of him, opening it and taking out a pad of paper and a pen. He leaned back into the chair and the lovers watched his demeanor change from friend to lawyer.

“Okay, Brian, the last time we talked you told me that you felt that your son was being ignored by his mother and her partner, in favor of their new daughter. If I remember right, you said that Michael was the father,” Mark began, shaking his head.

“Right.”

“You also told me that Melanie and Lindsay didn’t require Michael to sign over his parental rights, something in which they demanded of you knowing that you didn’t want to do so, correct?”

“Right again.”

“Why did you decide to sign over your rights anyway?” Brian sighed, looking over at Justin, a silent question in his eyes. Justin took Brian’s hand in his, squeezing it in support.

“There were a few reasons,” Brian finally spoke. “Mel and Linds had been having problems. Turned out that Mel had cheated on Linds and the two of them had broken up. Things got bad for Linds and, like usual, she went to extremes to take care of it.”

“I can only imagine,” Mark smiled, remembering some of the more outrageous things that the blonde woman had tried back in college, especially when she discovered that Brian was gay.

“Well, this was time it was pretty out there,” Brian told him.

“What do you mean?”

“Okay, Mark, I know you need to know this stuff and I want you to do everything you can to make sure that we get the best for Gus, but what I’m about to say…I only want it to be used as a last resort. It can mean real trouble for Lindsay and, no matter what’s happened, she’s still the mother of my son.”

“Brian, I can’t promise you anything, you know that,” Mark said. “The only thing I will say is that I will try and do what you wish, but if I think what you’re going to tell me will help your case, or if it will show that Lindsay isn’t as perfect as I’m sure she will try to project, I will use it.” Brian stayed silent for a minute and Mark began to wonder if maybe Brian had decided not to tell him what was going on.

“You know how Linds gets whenever someone is in trouble,” Mark nodded, remembering the blond woman that he had once been attracted to. “Well, there was this teacher at the school where she worked. She needed some help with the bills and watching Gus because Mel had moved out, and he needed his Green Card to stay in the country, so they came to an agreement. They were going to get married. ”

“Didn’t she know how much trouble she could get into if the INS found out what they had planned? They don’t look fondly upon Green Card marriages. Why didn’t you try and stop her?”

“I would have if I had known about it,” Brian answered. “But after she and Mel split, she started to spend less and less time with us. Hell, every time I tried to come over and see Gus she made up some excuse why I couldn’t, like he was with his grandparents or he was asleep. And those were the times they were actually home. We didn’t know what was going on until Mel had tried to call and got the answering machine which had Gui on it.”

“Gui is the teacher she was planning on marrying?” Brian nodded as he watched Mark write the name down. “Okay so what did you do when you found out what she was planning?”

“We tried to talk some fucking sense into her. Well, Melanie and I did,” Brian amended, remembering as Emmett and Ted instantly going for the food that Gui had prepared that night they confronted the two of them. “Needless to say, it didn’t do any good.”

“But I still don’t understand what any of this has to do with you giving up your parental rights to Melanie.”

“One day I had stopped at the market for lunch. I was just going to grab some fruit and I saw Gui with Gus,” Brian explained. “I went over to see my son, because I hadn’t seen him in awhile. The fucker was not happy to see me, and wouldn’t even hand over my kid so I could hold him. Then he said something about how after he and Lindsay were married, that they would need me to keep my distance from Gus because they needed to look like a typical family. That they were even thinking of having Gui adopt Gus. Needless to say, that didn’t sit well with me.”

“I bet,” Mark told him. “Did you ask Lindsay about the adoption, because she had to know that without you signing away your rights, they wouldn’t have been able to go through with it?” Brian shook his head.

“No. I just knew that I had to do something. I spent the entire night thinking about it.”

“I remember that,” Just said, finally finding his voice. He knew how tough it had been on Brian when he was trying to decide whether or not he should sign over his rights. Unlike the rest of their supposed family, Justin didn’t think Brian was just a cold hearted bastard who thought of no one but himself. He knew Brian loved his son and would be willing to do anything and everything possible to make sure Gus was happy.

“Killing me with kindness,” Brian smirked, leaning over and gently kissing his lover. Before the two men could lose themselves in each other and their memories, Mark cleared his throat bringing them back to the present. Brian turned his attention back to his old friend. “Anyway, I tricked Mel into meeting me at the house and told her and Lindsay that I would sign over my parental rights, allowing Mel to adopt Gus, but only if the two of them would get back together. That I wanted my son to be raised in a happy home with two loving parents, even if I couldn’t stand one of them.” All three men laughed, breaking some of the tension that had been present.

“So they got back together and you signed over Gus,” Mark concluded.

“But Brian never stopped being a father to him,” Justin stated, wanting to make sure that Mark understood that even though Brian didn’t have any legal obligations to Gus, Brian wasn’t giving up on him. “Brian’s given them money, babysat for them when they’ve wanted to get away. He’s done everything that they’ve asked of him and more. Hell, he’s even taking on more responsibility now that Annie’s around.”

“What do you mean?” Before either man could answer, the phone rang. Justin went over to grab it, looking at the caller ID before handing it over to Brian.

“It’s the girls.” Brian reluctantly took the call, noticing that Mark, as well as Justin, seemed to be intent on listening in.

“Hello,” Brian said, his voice calm, even though Justin could see the tension that was in his body. The blond resumed his seat next to Brian and leaned into the older man.

“Brian, please tell me you have Gus,” Lindsay frantically cried over the phone.

“Yes, I have Gus,” he replied, not revealing the anger he felt toward the mother of his child.

“Oh thank God,” she sighed. “I had a feeling that he was with you. Why didn’t you tell anyone that you were taking Gus?”

“Gee Linds, if I thought anyone would have actually given a damn, maybe I would have,” Brian countered, his patience over the situation involving his son growing thin.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means, when did you finally notice that your son wasn’t at his own god damn birthday party?” Silence greeted him over the phone. “What, Linds, no answer to that one?”

“I thought Melanie was watching him,” Lindsay tried to explain. “There was so much to do for the party and I knew Mel was outside with Annie and the family.”

“So you just figured that she would actually be willing to pull her attention away from Annie and pay attention to our son.”

“Gus is her son too. She loves him, Brian.”

“Well she has a fucking weird way of showing it,” Brian countered. “Considering the way she’s been acting since she’s been pregnant with Annie you would think that she only has one child.” Brian saw a sleepy Gus come out of his bedroom and fought to control his temper. With all the upheaval that the young boy had been having to deal with, Brian didn’t want to add to it by showing his anger toward Gus’s mothers. “And you haven’t exactly been helping the situation.

“Daddy,” Gus yawned.

“Can you get Gus for me?” Brian whispered over to Justin, who quickly went over to the boy, picking him up and carrying him over to the kitchen to get him something to drink. Brian turned his attention back to the phone.

“Brian, you know how hectic it’s been since Annie’s been home,” Lindsay tried to excuse her actions. “I know we haven’t been able to pay as much attention to Gus as possible, but it’s only to be expected with two children now.”

“How long, Linds?”

“What?”

“How long did it take for you to discover that Gus wasn’t at your house? How long until you discovered that he was missing?”

“I went outside a few minutes ago because it was time for some of Gus’s friends to come over. You know how we wanted the family to come over first for lunch. That’s when I discovered that he wasn’t in the back yard like I thought.”

“Christ Lindsay, how much more proof do you need that you and Melanie have your priorities completely fucked? I’ve been telling you two for months that Gus has been feeling neglected and unloved by the two of you and you kept saying that it was only because he had been an only child and that he just had to get used to having a little sister.” Justin was standing at the kitchen counter, holding Gus who was happily eating a cookie and drinking some milk. He was trying hard to keep his own anger in check thinking of the way the little boy in his arms had been ignored over the past few months.

“Brian I don’t think you have any right to tell Melanie or I how we should be raising our son….”

“Two hours, Lindsay.”

“What?”

“It’s been two hours since I’ve had Gus,” Brian explained. “Justin and I found him wandering the sidewalk while Melanie and the rest of the gang were fawning over perfect little Annie. We’ve had him now for over two hours and you’ve just realized that he was missing. Can’t you see anything wrong with this?”

“Oh God,” Lindsay cried, thinking of what her little boy must have been thinking to have actually left his own party. “I had no idea.”

“That’s because you haven’t wanted to know. You’ve been too busy placating your wife to even think of what that was doing to your son.”

“You know how hard it’s been on Melanie,” Lindsay tried to say. “With all of the complications, she was so worried that something would happen to Annie and then when nothing went wrong, we were all so happy.”

“But that doesn’t excuse what’s been going on.”

“I know that, Brian. I know that. And you know I love Gus. I would never do anything to hurt him. I feel so bad about what’s happened.”

“But can’t promise that it won’t happen again, can you?” Silence greeted him once more. Brian sighed, knowing that there was no use continuing the conversation, especially with Gus just a few feet away, and Mark right next to him. “Look, Linds, just go tell everyone that Gus is fine and that Justin and I will be taking care of him for the weekend. I’ll drop him off at his school on my way to work on Monday.” Before Lindsay could say anything else, Brian hung up the phone, turning it off in the process. He looked over at Mark.

“So I guess now you have an idea of why I finally called you. So what do you suggest we do now?”