Christmas Eve - Dusk

"Holy shit!"

Debbie gasped as Ben steered his SUV up the long, curved driveway in front of Britin. She had heard of the monstrous house that Brian had purchased rather impulsively just before he had proposed to Justin, but this was her first glimpse of it, and she was stunned. This wasn't simply a house or even a mansion – it was a fucking miniature city. It must have been occupied at least 6,000 square feet, a large, imposing, two-story brick Tudor residence nestled in cedar trees and sitting on top of a small knoll surrounded by several acres of woods and fields.

The five inches of freshly-fallen snow from last night cast the house in a type of Norman Rockwell-type setting; numerous strands of multi-hued lights shone underneath the white-blanketed cedar trees and the large, red bows draped on top of each pair of tall, imposing windows contrasted perfectly with the winter wonderland. A large, fresh wreath decorated with the same style and color ribbon greeted visitors at the top of the door's entrance, and the gaslight lamps shining outside were also bedecked with large, elaborate velvet bows of the same color.

Debbie held her breath as they slowed down directly in front of the residence; the house and the setting were simply enchanting, not to mention the fact that it was actually decorated for Christmas. "Are you sure this is Brian's house?" she asked skeptically. She had known Brian long enough to never recall him EVER celebrating Christmas, at least not in the traditional way. Brian's idea of acknowledging Christmas was normally toasting St. Nick with one of the numerous bottles of booze clients purchased for him as a thank you for his ingenuous work on their latest ad campaigns.

Michael grinned from his place on the passenger seat. "Yeah…..I was thinking the same thing," he admitted. "But it IS his house, though. He must have caved in when he found out Gus was coming for Christmas." Gus, his two moms, and Michael's daughter, JR, had decided to come home for the holidays, and Brian had agreed to let them stay at Britin while they were in town. After all, it wasn't like he didn't have the room. And he had told Michael that it would be nice to spend some time with his son here at home; the boy seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds. Every time he saw him – and he tried diligently not to let more than a month at a time go by without at least flying up to Canada for a long weekend with him – the boy seemed to be at least another two inches taller.

This would actually be the first time Brian had enough room to accommodate not only Gus and the rest of his family, but all of his friends as well. Not one to normally acknowledge Christmas at all, he had somewhat grudgingly agreed this year to allow everyone to use Britin for their annual Christmas Eve celebration. Why he had, however, was anyone's guess. Was it remotely possible that Peter Pan had finally grown up just a little? He would probably never admit it, but Michael wasn't fooled. He knew that Justin had slowly changed him, and had actually made him a better person – a better father, a better friend, and a better partner. Brian would never want to admit it, but Michael knew the truth.

"Well, I thought I would never see the day when Brian would decorate for Christmas, unless maybe he used some of his condoms for stockings," Debbie cracked as Ben grinned back at her in the rearview mirror.

"Well, they're probably big enough," Michael quipped, his voice not quite devoid of just a little envy. He felt a little better, however, when Ben reached over to squeeze his hand just before he turned the vehicle off. "Well," he continued, "everyone grab either a dish or a gift and let's get this show on the road."

As Debbie grabbed a casserole dish from the back seat, the two men opened up the trunk and grabbed two large bags of gifts. "Where's Hunter when you need him?" Michael groused good-naturedly. Their son had decided to spend Christmas with his new college girlfriend and her family in Philadelphia, and while his family missed him terribly, they were at least heartened to know that the girl's family knew all about his medical history and childhood and had been quite accepting of his circumstances.

"It's not that bad," Ben chided him, as he struggled to lug his rather cumbersome garbage bag full of presents up the sidewalk. Thankful at least that someone had already cleared the sidewalk of the snow, he managed to hoist the bag over his shoulder and bump up enough against the doorbell to activate it. A cheery-sounding first verse of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" promptly sounded as the three of them stared at each other in amazement. "Well, I never….." Debbie began. "Are you sure this is the right house?"

Michael smiled and merely shrugged his shoulders just as the door was opened and the house's identity was confirmed as Lindsey and Gus greeted them. "Michael! Debbie! Ben!" Lindsey cried, smiling as she held the door open for them to enter. "It's so great to see you!" She reached over to give Debbie a hug as the two guys grinned back at her.

"We come bearing gifts," Michael said a little breathlessly; he noticed with some degree of consternation that his husband apparently was having a lot less difficulty dragging in his gifts than he was as he struggled to hold them in his arms and walk at the same time.

"I can see that," Lindsey observed smiling. "Come on in - Brian's around here somewhere. JR's upstairs with Mel – they'll be down soon. You can put the gifts down over there," she told them, pointing to the side parlor room trimmed elaborately on all sides with a Victorian Christmas theme, complete with an antique rocking horse, an old-fashioned aluminum Christmas tree, and garland draped on the fireplace mantle. A roaring fire was blazing from the fireplace below.

"Wow!" Debbie exclaimed, her eyes lit up at the sight of the extensive decorations. "Someone must have invaded Brian's body and possessed him – it must be the only explanation."

Lindsey chuckled. "Probably as good an explanation as any," she agreed as the two men eagerly lowered their bags to the ground and began to pull the gifts out to stack them under the tree. "Come on," she told them, "there's hot cider in the kitchen. You look like you could use something to warm you up."

As the four adults walked down the hallway toward the kitchen, the youngest member of their group had something else in mind.

"Daddy!" Gus immediately turned and began to run back into the rear of the house. "Company!" he shouted gleefully, his eyes lit up with excitement over the thought of more presents arriving. Being a particularly perceptive little boy – if Brian did say so himself – it hadn't taken his son long to figure out that around Christmastime, whenever guests showed up presents invariably followed. Apparently this was going to be one of those times, he thought, noticing the bags being toted. He rushed down the hallway toward the library and ran toward his father's arms. Brian was sitting on the couch with a drink in his hand, watching the flames crackling in the fireplace as he saw his son rushing in.

Brian, who had been deep in thought, smiled as he saw his son furiously running headlong toward him. He had just enough time to place his drink down on the nearby side table and hold his hands out before he scooped his son up onto the couch and into his arms. "Who is it, Sonny Boy?" he asked, his eyebrows cocked in curiosity as he struggled to hold the squirming bundle of excitement on his legs.

"Uncle Mikey, Uncle Ben, and Grandma Debbie," he dutifully told his father. "And they brought more presents for me!"

"Oh, they did, huh?"

Brian couldn't help grinning as his little boy bobbed his head up and down vigorously.

"How can you be sure, Buddy?"

"Because I've been a very good boy this year, Daddy," he responded almost defensively as if it should have been a foregone conclusion. "JR hasn't been so good, though," he reported.

Brian bit back a chuckle; after all, how much mischief could a toddler get into? Oh, yeah – he remembered how much trouble Gus would get into once he figured out how to walk – maybe his son was right after all. "Well, I'm sure she was still good enough to get some presents, don't you think?"

Gus seemed to ponder that question seriously for a few minutes as he frowned. "Well, maybe a little, Daddy," he finally decided. "But she still won't get as many as me."

Brian grinned. "No, probably not," he agreed. "I don't think anyone could be as good as you, Sonny Boy." Good at charming the PANTS off someone, I mean, he thought. Must get it from your old man…..

"Let me down, Daddy! I have to go see what they brought!" As Brian let his son down and he took off once more at top speed like he had been shot out of a cannon, Brian had a few minutes more of relative peace to reflect on what he had been thinking about just before his son had interrupted him; or should he say, whom. Thinking of charming the pants off someone had merely made him think once more about Justin.

He sighed as he glanced over at the blazing fire dancing in front of him. His hazel eyes were unfocused as he thought about the last conversation he had had with Justin a few weeks ago. Even though he hadn't really openly admitted it, he had been excited when Justin had told him he would be able to come home to Pittsburgh for a few weeks around the holidays to spend time with him and see the rest of his "family." Justin had been in New York now for almost 7 months – to Brian it had seemed like a fucking lifetime. Oh, they talked on the phone all the time – usually at least once a day – and they had seen each other occasionally since Justin had left. But it had always been over a long weekend, and just as they got comfortable with each other again, it seemed like it was time to say goodbye. He fucking hated saying goodbye to Justin – it just made him realize how much he missed him, even though at the time Justin had left, he knew it was best for his partner, at least career-wise. He just hadn't realized at the time how terribly much it would hurt to be apart from him.

So when Justin had informed him a couple of weeks ago that he would be coming home to visit for at least two weeks at the same time that Gus was here as well, Brian was ecstatic. Not only would he get to see his son for an extended period, he would also get to see Justin everyday and make up for some serious fucking deficiencies. He figured that over the course of seven months of non-fucking a certain blond regularly, they must be short by at least a good 500 to 600 fucks. They wouldn't be able to replenish the draught totally during Justin's relatively short stay here, but he figured they could make a pretty good dent in it.

Now, however, Justin had informed him last week that he had been given an unexpected opportunity to fill in for another artist whose works were going to be prominently featured in one of the most prestigious art galleries in New York City. The original artist's wife had been taken seriously ill unexpectedly and he had had to bow out of the show. Justin's work had garnered considerable attention in a previous show, so when the originally-scheduled artist couldn't fulfill his promise to supply the owner with at least 10 oil originals, the gallery had asked Justin to step in. Brian had been bitterly disappointed, but he knew what a great opportunity this would be for Justin, so he bit back his great frustration over their holiday plans being thwarted and told Justin he HAD to accept.

Now, as he sat watching the fire dancing in front of him, he realized how fucking much he missed him. Why couldn't there be some happy resolution to their dilemma? He knew Justin missed him terribly as well – at least he certainly indicated it whenever they could be reunited. Except for brief periods to use the bathroom, take a shower (which normally involved more fucking anyway), and grab a bite to eat, Justin pretty much wouldn't let Brian out of bed the entire time they visited each other, whether it was in Pittsburgh or in New York. And while Justin had no problems verbalizing how much he loved and missed him, it was in his touch and his kisses that Brian knew for sure.

Brian wished desperately that his business was successful enough to be able to finance a satellite office in New York City; not only was it the hub of advertising as well as art, but it would allow him to be with Justin all the time. But realistically, while Kinnetik was doing quite well, he still wasn't quite to the point where he could afford the ungodly-expensive rents being demanded of in the Big Apple. He had run the numbers by Ted numerous times, and he always came up with the same conclusion – he was at least one year from being able to even consider the possibility.

So here he was, sitting in the library at Britin, surrounded by the sights and sounds of Christmas, as well as his son and his friends, and he still felt unhappy. In fact, downright miserable, because the one person he needed here wasn't going to be able to come home. Damn it, Sunshine….Why did you have to be so good at what you do? He took a deep breath, noticing with a little surprise that there were tears in his eyes. When did a certain blond's sentimentality rub off on him? Oh, yeah, he thought – probably about the first time I saw him under the fucking street lamp…..

From their vantage point in the doorway of the library, Michael and Debbie watched in astonishment as Brian reached up to wipe some moisture from his eyes. Debbie quietly pulled Michael from the entryway and into a nearby room being used as an office as Michael whispered to his mother, "Don't you think we should tell him? I can't believe I'm saying this, but he looks downright devastated."

"Shh," Debbie cautioned him when she thought he might be overheard. "We promised, remember?" she told her son, pointing a red-enameled finger at him. "Now don't go fucking it up. Remember, it's just temporary, okay?" She eyed him intently until she saw the flicker of acceptance in her son's eyes.

"Okay," he whispered. "But he looks like someone just kicked his dog."

"Well, just keep your trap shut, Michael Novotny," she cautioned him. Michael rolled his eyes at her before nodding as she walked back toward the library as if she were approaching it for the first time. Noticing that Brian looked a little more presentable now, she called out, "Brian – there you are, Honey! Merry Christmas!"

Brian let out a breath to calm himself before forcing a nonchalant look on his face as he turned to greet his guests. "Hey, Deb, Mikey," he answered almost flippantly as he arose from the couch to place a kiss on Debbie's cheek. "Where's Kojak and the Professor?"

Debbie smirked. "Ben is in the kitchen getting some hot cider from Lindsey, and Carl is on duty until a little later. He said he'd join us shortly."

"No rest for Pittsburgh's finest," he said dryly. "I hope you brought Gus plenty of presents, by the way. The boy is going to be a slave to Armani yet – if I bring him up properly, anyway."

Michael glanced over at his mother; despite Brian's quick attempt to deflect his morose thoughts, his sudden expression of sadness wasn't lost on his best friend. As he looked over at his mother, however, her expression in her eyes once more admonished him to keep quiet. Michael cleared his throat before telling Brian, "He's already been in the parlor inspecting each one, although I get the impression that he thinks they're all for him – he hasn't quite gotten the hang of checking the name tags first."

Brian smiled. "That's my boy – sees something and goes after it, just like his old man." Of course, that statement only made him think even more about Justin, which in turn made his heart drop just a little in disappointment. Before the others could notice, he decided to change the subject. "Want to join the others in the kitchen? The lord of this manor told me where he stashes the good stuff. Somehow apple cider doesn't quite jingle my bells."

Debbie smiled tenderly back at him; she knew the Kinney M.O. by now – don't dwell on your actual feelings – change the subject – much safer. "Well, then, lead the way – I'm game," she told him smiling as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "A little hot in my toddy is always welcome," she kidded him, relieved when she received a slight smile in return.

A few minutes later, the entire group was reunited in the nearby living room, which like all the other rooms was decorated in a particular Christmas theme – this one was based on a more masculine theme – there were bold colors used on a white tree adorned with maroon, silver, and navy blue ornaments, and the mantle in this room was bedecked with thick, pillar candles that had been lit to cast a warm glow throughout the room, as well as a large evergreen wreath over the mantle, trimmed with a matching maroon bow and chunky wooden ornaments surrounding it. If Debbie hadn't been convinced of Brian's vehement denial, she thought the room with the candles all aglow could have actually looked romantic – a word that Brian, however, would never deem as appropriate coming from his lips. She chose wisely to keep her opinion to herself, although something told her Brian's choice of décor for each of Britin's rooms, as well as his decision to even decorate at all for the holidays – wasn't just for his son's benefit; there was a certain blond that Debbie felt sure was uppermost in his mind as well as she peered over at her surrogate son sympathetically. Just a little longer, she thought, with just a certain amount of eager anticipation.

"Hey!" she shouted as she saw Mel and JR entering the downstairs to join them. "There's my cute as a button granddaughter!" she practically squealed in delight. Mel smiled at the other woman as she gently placed the little, dark-haired girl down on the floor and watched as her daughter toddled over to Debbie with a big smile on her face. Mel and Lindsey had meticulously dressed their daughter in a red velvet Christmas dress with a white collar complete with lacy, white, frilly panties and a big red bow on her head. "Don't you just look precious?" Debbie exclaimed, smiling broadly as JR reached her side and was promptly scooped up into her grandmother's arm for a big, sloppy kiss. "You are just SO adorable!" she cried out, peppering her slightly squirming granddaughter with additional butterfly kisses. "I could just eat you up!" she added enthusiastically.

Leaning on the fireplace mantle, Brian rolled his eyes at the display of affection before bowing his head to stare into his glass of Beam. He had thought that being with his friends – in essence, his family – during the holidays would cheer him up, but he realized that even with Gus present, without Justin there it just wasn't the same. He knew he should have known better than to have given his heart away the way he did, but it was too late now. A certain blond had a firm hold on it and he would never be able to get it back because he loved the man way too much, damn it.

Debbie reluctantly let go of her granddaughter, who promptly toddled over toward her father's willing embrace. She glanced up at the clock on the fireplace mantel, noticing that it was now 6:00. Right on cue, Ben had excused himself a few minutes earlier to go upstairs to his room with the pretense of unpacking for the night, and Michael fortunately had managed to occupy himself quite nicely as well. Thanking her granddaughter for her unexpected assistance, Debbie gave her son a slight nudge as a signal before calling over to Brian, "Uh, Brian, could you do me a favor? I forgot – we've got a really heavy present out in the trunk and it might get damaged if it's left outside in the cold for a long time. Would you mind going out and getting it for me, Honey? It seems that Michael and Ben are a little indisposed at the moment." She noted with a little concern that Carl hadn't called her, but he had indicated earlier that everything was proceeding as planned; she only hoped he was right or this would turn out to be a wild goose chase and Brian would think she had lost her mind….

Brian sighed; why not? He didn't have anything else to do at the moment. "Yeah, okay, sure," he said half-heartedly. He placed his drink down on top of the fireplace mantel and slowly trudged toward the hallway to retrieve his coat from the foyer closet. As he shrugged into it, he opened the door and was startled slightly to find Carl Horvath standing there. "Carl – hey," he greeted the other man.

Carl smiled congenially. "Hey, Brian – thanks for inviting me here. Sorry I couldn't get here any sooner – I was detained." Carl's mouth gaped open at the impressive site of the ornately carved, spiral staircase and monstrous Christmas tree in the corner of the foyer; the tree had to be at least 10 feet tall and was profusely decorated. With the ribbon, bows, ornaments, and lights displayed there, virtually every square inch of the tree was completely covered. "This is one hell of a house, Brian," the detective commented, craning his head around to take in all of the opulent surroundings.

"Yeah, it's okay," Brian told him rather casually as he took Carl's coat and quickly hung it up in the closet. Funny how it looked a lot better when it was furnished before with simply a certain sexy blond as its only decoration….

"Everyone's in the living room," he told the detective, returning to the present reluctantly as he tilted his head back toward the left. "Grab a drink and make yourself at home. I'll be right back."

As Brian closed the door behind him, Carl followed the sounds of his friends down the hallway, finding them grouped together in various pieces of furniture in a charming, fire-lit room decorated extensively for the Christmas season.

"Hey, Sweetheart!" Debbie greeted him, standing up to walk over and give Carl and hug and a kiss. "I assume you met Scrooge out in the hallway?" she asked him, smiling.

Carl chuckled softly. "Yeah, I met him. Not a very happy camper. I have a feeling that might be about to change, though.," he said, winking.

Debbie beamed at the news, greatly relieved. "That's great! I was afraid with the weather that something might have happened when I didn't hear from you!" she chided him, her face turning a bit more somber.

"Sorry, Honey, it's started to snow again and with the weather I couldn't get a signal on my cell to call you."

Debbie smiled as he took his arm. "That's okay – what's important is that you're here – both of you. Now let's go get you something hot to drink."

Brian shivered in the rapidly-lowering temperature as he walked toward Ben's SUV; as soon as the sun had finished quickly going down, it seemed like the temperature had dropped like a rock as well.

Reaching in to retrieve his leather gloves, he grumbled under his breath as he slowly walked toward the vehicle; as he reached it, he cupped his hands over his face to look inside the SUV but didn't see any remaining packages. Remembering, though, that Debbie had mentioned it was inside the trunk, he walked around to the back and grasped the handle to pull the back door up and open.

The numerous Christmas lights draped over all the nearby trees, along with the lights from inside the house and shining from the gaslights nearby helped to illuminate the back of the vehicle. But still, even with the dim lighting Brian found himself blinking a couple of times as he stood there in shock, thinking that surely he was imagining the "present" that Debbie had left for him to retrieve. Because this "present" looked a lot like someone he had been recently fantasizing about. "Uh…..Justin?" he asked softly, almost afraid that if he said the name too loudly, his "fantasy" would promptly disappear and he would be left all alone, once again.

To his great relief and delight, however, the "present" promptly unfolded himself from his fetal position in the back of the SUV and crawled out of the vehicle. "About time," his fantasy groused, trying to stretch his stiff back out. "It's fucking freezing out here and my dick was about to fall off!" Justin gazed back at his partner, his heart doing rapid flip-flops just at the familiar vision standing there apparently frozen as well.

"Well?" Justin said. "Didn't you hear me, Mr. Kinney? I need something to warm me up‼"

As Brian continued to stand there in shock, Justin decided that perhaps a much more direct approach was in order. "Oh, brother," he grumbled as he promptly launched himself at Brian's body and wrapped his arms around the man's neck and his legs around his waist. "Mmmm….much better," he promptly decided. "But a little response here would be nice," he mumbled into Brian's chest.

Brian's body instantly went on alert as he felt his "fantasy's" body warm and alive against his. He sighed in great contentment; now this was what Christmas felt like! He slowly, almost gingerly wrapped his arms under Justin's ass and held on tight; if it WAS a fantasy, he wasn't going to let it go. "Justin," he murmured softly, placing his head on top of the blond one and sighing as he began to knead the famliar, fleshy globes he knew and loved so well.

Justin smiled as he finally evoked a response. It wasn't quite good enough for him, however. He pulled away just long enough to look up into the soft hazel eyes of his lover and announced, "My lips are really, really cold, too," before he reached up to pull Brian's head down into a heated kiss. He could feel Brian's mouth opening almost instantly as he coached his tongue between Brian's warm lips and felt his body instantly heat up. Ah….the perfect heating pad for my heart….

Brian angled his head and reached one hand up to grasp Justin by the neck as he plunged into the welcoming taste of his lover. They kissed oblivious to everyone and everything else for several minutes, the silence of the crisp, night air only occasionally punctuated by their mutual sighs and moans of pleasure, until he heard Justin giggle and finally broke off their kiss. "What's so funny, Sunshine? That you tricked me into thinking that you weren't coming home for Christmas? Santa says you've been very naughty – he'll have to punish you accordingly later."

Justin giggled again as he scrunched up his nose. "No….the snowflakes – they tickle," he explained, smiling up at Brian in open love for this wonderful man he had almost instantly fallen in love with so long ago. In a way, it felt like a lifteime; in another way, it felt just like yesterday...

As Brian looked down into the shining eyes of his partner, he could see a rainbow of colors reflecting back at him from the nearby Christmas lights, and his breath caught in his throat. At that moment, he couldn't recall another time when Justin looked quite as perfect as he did at that moment. "Let's go in, Sunshine," he whispered softly, reaching up to gently brush an errant snowflake away from the button nose. "One more minute out here and I'll be accused of fucking Frosty the Snowman."

Justin laughed, so happy to be home with his partner. It had been extremely difficult to talk the gallery owner into postponing the showing schedule by a couple weeks until after New Year's, but he had finally been able to sufficiently sweeten the pot with a promise of additional artwork after it was over and the owner had finally caved in, much to Justin's great relief. Now he could have the best of both worlds. Soon, too, he knew there would come a day when he felt he was successful enough to come home for GOOD. For now, though, while he was here at Britin with the man he loved, he couldn't think of ever feeling any happier.

"You think we should send a sled dog out? It's been at least 15 minutes."

Debbie smiled over at Lindsey. "Oh, I'd give it at least another couple of minutes or so – Brian's getting a little older – takes him probably at least another minute longer to greet Sunshine properly."

Michael guffawed at that remark. "Better not let Brian hear you say that," he warned. "Brian may have mellowed a little where Justin's concerned, but he still thinks he's God's gift to all of gay Pittsburgh."

"That's because I still AM," they heard a voice retort from the hallway. Everyone turned to see Brian standing with his arm around Justin, and they were stunned at the change in his face. Within the space of a few minutes, he had gone from being bummed as hell to almost radiant with happiness. The smile on his face wasn't as brilliant as Justin's was at the moment, but you could tell it from the look in the eyes – they were sparking with happiness now.

"Sunshine!" Debbie shrieked, as she vaulted herself off the couch and rushed over to give him a big kiss on the cheek. "What a wonderful surprise!"

"Can it, Deb," Brian groused, although he was definitely not angry with her – he was too fucking happy at the moment to care HOW Justin had managed to get here. "A heavy package?"

She shrugged. "Well, he was heavier than the clothes I bought for JR," she pointed out. As a smile slowly spread across her face, Brian couldn't help joining in as well as he twisted his face at her in amusement. He stood back slightly to drink in the sight of his partner as everyone else stood up to greet their newest arrival and press a mug of hot cider into Justin's cold hand.

Thirty minutes later

From their position out in the foyer, Justin and Brian heard Debbie calling them from the kitchen. "No going up to the bedroom, boys! Dinner's almost ready – you'll have to wait for dessert until later!"

Brian reluctantly broke off their kiss at her unexpected command – it must have been at least the fifth kiss by now, but he had sort of lost track. Kissing Justin tended to do that to him…..

Still being firmly held in the brunet's arms, Justin grinned up at Brian, who shook his head. He had been considering that wonderful activity himself just before she had yelled out her directive. "How does she do that?" Brian said.

Justin shook his head. "Plenty of practice with Michael and especiallyyou, no doubt," he decided. "Looks like you'll have to wait until later to spank me for being naughty."

Brian huskily drawled softly, "Keep up that talk and I'll deck your balls down here. There's a nice, big bathroom downstairs, you know."

Justin grinned. "Yeah, and we have a lot of guests down here, too, you know." As Brian pretended to pout, he added, "Don't worry – I'll be sure to take my punishment like a man later."

"I'm counting on it," Brian whispered, causing Justin to shiver just a little in delicious anticipation. As he turned slightly in Brian's arms to take a better look at the lushly-decorated Christmas tree nearby, he smiled. "I really like the gold and blue color theme for this tree – very elegant-looking."

Brian smiled. "Two of my favorite colors," he volunteered, peering over at Justin so intently it made the blond blush. "I had an interior decorator help me with all the themes for the different rooms, but I designed this tree myself."

Justin studied it from his place approximately 10 feet away. "So what IS the theme?" he asked curiously.

"You tell ME," Brian said mysteriously, gently pulling Justin closer to the massive white pine.

Justin glanced at him in puzzlement as, intrigued, he walked up to the tree to examine it. What he had initially thought was tinsel from afar was actually something else. He frowned as he picked up one of the silver objects. "A bent nail?" he asked, staring over at his partner.

Brian rolled his eyes. "I can tell you've never had a carpentry class," he chided his lover. "Haven't you ever seen a wood screw before?"

Justin laughed. "Okay…..if you say so, Brian the Builder. You used wood screws instead of tinsel?"

Brian nodded as he curled his lips under in that adorable little-boy-look that always made Justin's heart beat faster. "Yeah, the maintenance guy, Ernie, wasn't too thrilled about bending 300 wood screws into tinsel, but he doesn't get paid to LIKE his job."

Justin smiled. "I see…..okay." He reached over to pick up one of the ornaments festooned all over the tree. "An artist's palette…..Uh, huh...I think I'm starting to see a pattern here…."

He smiled broadly as he reached over and picked up another ornament. "This one looks just like the diner!" he said in amazement.

"Yeah, Hallmark must have used it as the prototype," Brian answered helpfully, raising his eyebrows playfully.

Justin placed the diner ornament back on the tree and walked a couple of feet to peer more closely at another decoration. "This looks like a real Hostess Twinkie," he noted, turning to look back at Brian for an explanation as he fingered the extremely realistic rendition of the snack cake.

Brian nodded. "Yeah, Ernie didn't really care for having to shellac three dozen Twinkies, either, but at least he got a free box that was left over afterwards – minus the shellac, though."

Justin shook his head in amusement. "And twinkle lights, too…..Very creative, Mr. Kinney – I can see why you're the advertising genius in this house." He stooped down to grab another type of ornament – this one was a wooden, exact duplicate of Brian's loft that he still owned and used in certain circumstances when he was too tired to drive back out to Britin for the night. Justin slid the simulated metal door back and peered inside the miniature doll-house structure. "The only furniture in there is the platform bed," he commented.

"Exactly," Brian said simply, grinning.

"Why do I feel like I'm suddenly taking a tour of Justin Taylor, This is Your Life?" Justin shook his head in amazement as he continued his survey of the tree, stopping to gently cradle a replica of a spinning bike on another tree branch. "Best incentive I ever got for keeping to my workout schedule," Brian said softly behind him; Justin felt his face flushing over the recollection of that night he had followed Brian to the gym only to discover he was secretly training for the Liberty Ride. He had felt at the time it was only right that he provide his lover with the proper encouragement to get back into shape; it wasn't his fault if it had turned out to be one of the biggest fucking turn-ons the two of them had experienced since Brian's cancer had gone into remission…..

After marveling over additional ornaments depicting a sun shining brightly, boxes of Captain Crunch, and several "yellow submarines," Justin let out a cry of delight over the next two he found together on the same tree branch: miniature exact copies of Rage and JT. It was the same pose that had been featured somewhat reluctantly (at least by Michael) on the cover of their comic when JT had been giving Rage a blow job. "Brian! How in the world did you get these done?" he asked in awe, gently rubbing his hands over the smooth surface.

"My art department," Brian said as he stood behind Justin and wound his arms around his waist. He whispered, "I told the boys down there that if they ever told anyone what they were working on for me, they'd also be first in the unemployment line. Amazing what the right incentive can accomplish."

Justin smiled as he turned to place a kiss on Brian's lips. "But Gus….." He figured JR was much too young to question this particular activity, but Gus being as bright as was, was another matter.

"Well, unless he grows about two feet before he leaves here, the only ones I had made are hanging too high for him to see. I made sure they were hung well – just like us," he teased as Justin laughed.

As Justin continued to admire all the other ornaments – there were trumpets ("horns denoting horniness," Brian explained), Jeeps just like Brian's old one, vanilla ice cream cones to celebrate their numerous ice cream kisses, and a tennis racket, miniature pool, and horse to commemorate their physical romps in the house's outdoor facilities, Justin shook his head as he turned around to face his partner, who smiled back at him almost in embarrassment similar to a kid being caught with his hand in a cookie jar. "This…..this is amazing, Brian," he whispered, his voice choked with emotion over this man's creative way of telling him just how much he loved him.

Brian didn't even try to hide his emotions as he smiled back tenderly at Justin before whispering, "You're the amazing one, Sunshine," before he leaned down to give Justin Kiss Number Six…..or something like that.

"Dinner's on! Don't make me come in there!" Debbie shouted from the kitchen. Justin felt Brian's chest rumble slightly as the brunet chuckled. "Perfect timing as usual," he said, sighing in defeat. He reached down to caress Justin's cheek, almost seeking once more to make sure he wasn't dreaming all this up, before he smiled when his hand felt the warm, soft, familiar touch of his lover. "Merry Christmas, Justin," Brian whispered softly.

Justin's thought his heart was about to explode in joy as he replied, "Merry Christmas to you, too."

Hands wrapped around each other's waists, Brian's step was noticeably lighter now as he walked down the hallway for dinner with his partner by his side. Justin, Gus, and family - what a wonderful combination!

A/N: Supposed to be mainly a one-shot - continue anyone?