A/N: I know - call me crazy! But I had a plot bunny thrown at me and I liked it so much I had to run with it! Thanks to Itzy for the idea - hope you like it, my friend!

Kinnetik - Early Morning

Brian sighed heavily as he held his cell phone out from his body and rolled his eyes before placing it back against his ear.

"No," he snapped. "I think every growing boy needs an occasional drag of weed and some poppers to stunt his growth. Give me a fucking break, okay?"

"You think I would be surprised?" Mel retorted. "I remember what happened the last time we left him in your care."

Brian shook his head. "Number one - that was more than two years ago; and number two - it's not my fault if dildos float in the sink - the lad was just having fun playing with his toys, just like me."

Mel huffed in exasperation. "I'm serious, Brian! We're counting on you to be the grownup this time, if you can! Trust me, if we had any other choice, you'd be the last person we'd leave him with for a weekend!"

Brian let out an angry breath. "Well I'm so humbled by your confidence in my abilities, Mel," he responded sarcastically, his icy voice filled with contempt. "I hate to remind you, but he's MY son, too, and I deserve time with him. I'm quite capable of taking care of him so just fucking back off, okay?" He could hear Lindsey in the background, trying fervently to calm her irascible partner down, just before there was a clunking sort of sound on the other end and his friend picked up the phone. "What time should we drop him off, Brian?" Lindsey asked him a little wearily, obviously tired of arguing about the arrangements with her partner.

Brian sighed, at least relived that Hurricane Mel had come and passed. "What time does your plane leave again?" He remembered it was sometime later this afternoon but he had forgotten the exact flight schedule in the normal hustle and bustle of his agency; they had just signed on five new, heavy-hitting clients and he had been up to his eyeballs in storyboards and graphics lately. He was actually looking forward to taking care of his four-year-old son for the long, three-day Memorial Day weekend; to him, just being diverted temporarily from the shitload of work he had for Kinnetik would be like getting a mini-vacation himself.

"The plane leaves here at 5:00, so we probably need to get to the airport no later than 3."

"I think I can get away a little early today. How about you drop him off here at 2, then?"

Lindsey replied gratefully, "That sounds perfect, Brian - thanks. We owe you a big one for this; I really hated to miss out on this - you don't have a free trip handed to you every day."

"Yeah, I'd jump at the chance to visit Myrtle Beach," Brian joked. "All those putt-putt golf courses, all those whiny kids, all those little old men trying to run you over with their souped-up golf carts…."

Lindsey smiled at his rather comedic description of their vacation destination. "Well, it may not sound like Miami Beach to you, Mr. Kinney, but to two lesbians who haven't had any time away since our son's been born, it sounds like paradise to us." Lindsey's old college sorority sister, whom she had kept in contact with over the years, had called her last week when she found out she couldn't use a timeshare week she owned for a condo there, and the two women had jumped at the chance.

Mel, of course, wasn't very happy with the babysitter they had been stuck with by process of elimination – all the other reliable ones were either busy, sick, or out of town – but the idea of a free, oceanfront vacation was just too good for them to pass up, so she had reluctantly agreed to let Brian watch Gus. That didn't mean she wouldn't be scared to death until they got back, though.

"Well, you girls go have fun and us boys will find a way to entertain ourselves, don't worry," Brian assured the woman teasingly as Lindsey looked over at her partner and tried to smile at her reassuringly. Mel, however, simply glared back at her skeptically.

"Thanks," Lindsey repeated. "We'll be by at 2:00." Just before she could hang up the phone, though, Brian heard another voice in the background. "Oh, just a second, Brian – someone else wants to speak to you." Brian could almost detect the amusement in her voice as he smiled and soon heard someone chirp, "Hi, Daddy!" back at him enthusiastically.

Brian beamed at the familiar sound. "Sonny Boy!" he answered in delight. "How's my little man?"

"I'm good, Daddy! I'm coming to visit you!" the little boy confirmed, the eager anticipation obvious in the tone of his voice. "We're going to have fun!"

Brian laughed in spite of himself; no matter how stressful his day might be, this little copy of himself always seemed to lighten his mood. "We sure are, Buddy," he agreed. "How about we have some pizza for dinner tonight and watch a couple of movies?" He really had no clue what four-year-old boys liked to watch nowadays, but he figured one of the clerks down at the local video store could help him out with that dilemma on his way home. A couple of movies and some cheese-laden pizza later and he figured Gus would soon be out like a light in la-la land; this babysitting would be a piece of cake, he figured. Plus, if he were honest with himself, he would sincerely enjoy spending time with Gus. Unlike most people, his son never questioned everything he did and never looked for ulterior motives in every action he took, and he always made him smile; there weren't too many other people – maybe no one else – who he could say that about.

"Yay!" Gus shouted as Brian smiled. "Mom – We're having pizza for dinner!" he could hear his little boy shouting to his mothers; he rolled his eyes as he heard Mel distinctly saying, no doubt to Lindsey, "Well, that's an improvement over the poppers anyway."

"Still there, Buddy?" he asked his son.

"Yeah, Daddy," he heard Gus say. "What else are we going to do?"

Brian grinned. "Not sure, Gus, but we'll talk about it later when I see you, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," he answered happily. "I'll see you later."

"Sure thing, Sonny Boy, see you soon," Brian responded, still unable to keep the amused smile off his face. He waited a few moments before Lindsey came back on the phone to confirm the time they would be coming over before she said her goodbye and they hung up the phone.

He just had enough time to ponder where to stop on the way home before he was summoned to yet another meeting in the conference room and thoughts of his impending task was temporarily shuffled aside.

Loft – 6:00 p.m.

Brian looked over at his son in amazement; the boy had just polished off his fourth piece of pepperoni pan pizza and showed no signs of stopping as he reached over to take a swig of his apple juice before moving on to tackle one of the still-warm cinnamon sticks for dessert. He furrowed his brow and shook his head. "Surely you're not still hungry, Sonny Boy? Aren't you full yet?" The two "men" were sitting with their backs against Brian's couch on a large, oval, beige-colored plush rug while they watched the second movie Brian had picked out – Finding Nemo – about a fish lost in the New York sewer system.

Gus shook his head as Brian reached over to ruffle his hair affectionately. He picked up another cinnamon stick and held it out to his father, who hesitated a few seconds before finally smiling congenially and opening his mouth up enough to accept a small bite of the gooey, sticky confection. "Mmmm," he proclaimed, smacking his lips dramatically, as Gus laughed at his antics. Brian couldn't help grinning back at him in response before suddenly he pounced on his son and began to tickle him mercilessly for a few seconds until the two of them fell to the floor, the little boy on top of his father's chest as his own chest heaved from the temporary exertion.

As he gazed into the twinkling, sparkling greenish-blue eyes, Brian's heart swelled with love for this perfect little human being. He still found it amazing how a son he never imagined he would ever want – or even contemplate – had entered his life so unexpectedly and had managed to wind his way into his heart so deeply and so irrevocably. Mel might never understand or believe it, but now that he was used to the idea – and had gotten the chance to get to know his son – he couldn't imagine life without him now.

Gus lifted his head up to stare into his father's face and state solemnly, "Daddy, you're so silly."

Brian grinned back at him before hugging him tightly to his chest. He had to laugh a few minutes later, though, when he eventually released his son only to have him sit up next to him and say, "Can we have popcorn now?" He shook his head as he grinned and rose to find a small snack-sized bag to place into the microwave as his son plodded along eagerly behind him.

Ten O'clock

Between the excitement of spending time with his father, eating way too much food, and getting to stay up a little later than he normally would to watch both movies, Gus had managed to stay awake for an hour past his normal bedtime. As Brian turned out the lights in the living area of the loft, he gazed tenderly down at the sleepy-eyed, yawning little boy curled up now on the couch, a light, fleece, navy-blue blanket tucked around him. His small frame was dwarfed by the large, leather sofa as he lay in one corner and gazed up at his father.

Brian walked a few steps to tenderly scoop his tired son up into his arms, blanket and all. "Time for bed, Sonny Boy," he softly crooned as the little boy nestled his dark head against his father's chest and snuggled into his touch. He wondered briefly about the irony of taking any male to his bed before midnight, much less staying in on a Friday night, before he slowly and carefully walked his son over to his king-sized bed and gently leaned down with one hand to push the duvet aside and lay Gus down under the covering.

Gently placing the cover back over the petite body, he watched as Gus' eyes struggled to stay open as he reached over to retrieve his son's favorite toy from the nightstand – a long-eared, floppy, light gray-colored rabbit named Hoppy. The little boy stretched out his arms to cradle it against his chest as Brian placed it in his arms and reached down to brush some stray hair out of his son's bangs.

"Are you coming to bed, Daddy?" the little boy asked sleepily, his rosy cheeks and dark eyes painting a picture at the moment of a perfect angel, even though Brian knew that wasn't always the case. It still didn't make his son any less special in his eyes, though, as he gazed back at the little boy tenderly and smiled. If all the boys at Babylon could see and hear him now, he thought, as to his own amazement, he nodded back at his son and walked around the bed to sit on the edge of it, long enough to take his shirt and pants off.

Turning the duvet back to slide his brief-clad, long body into the bed beside his son, he turned to face the little boy long enough to say, "Good night, Buddy. Sweet dreams." He reached over to plant a small kiss on the boy's left cheek for a moment before pulling back to drink in the sight of this beautiful little child, a creation that somehow he had miraculously helped to make.

"Good night, Daddy," Gus whispered back as he yawned. Just before his eyes closed in slumber, Brian heard him whisper, "I love you, Daddy."

Brian's eyes misted over as he whispered back, "I love you too, Gus," before turning off everything but the soft glow emitted from the orange lights over the bed and closing his eyes, also.

TBC...