Chapter Seven

Justin sat across the street from the Peterson-Bloom Gallery and took a deep drag on his cigarette. He wanted to go in and meet Brian's friend, yet on the other hand, he wasn't anxious to find out who Gus was, especially if he was someone special in Brian's life. Releasing the smoke he'd been holding in his lungs, his mind wandered to the phone conversation he'd had with Brian the previous evening. The way Brian had said "Tell her I love Gus" and ended the call had needled Justin to the point of causing him a fitful sleep. Tossing and turning the entire night, he'd finally risen and paced the loft as it ran through his head on a contentious loop, giving him a monster-sized headache.

Stubbing out his cigarette, Justin made his way over to the gallery with heavy feet. He knew there was a possibility of Brian's words being perfectly innocent and nothing to get uptight about, but he'd never find out until he met Lindsay and asked. If it was bad news, he wanted it to be over and done with so he'd have time to get his head together before he made contact with Brian again.

Here goes nothing, he thought as he entered, catching sight of a tall, slender blonde woman chatting with a man. It looked to Justin as if he were a potential buyer of a certain painting they were standing near. Deciding to walk around and take in what was on offer, he kept an eye on how she was doing at her sale, soon seeing them shake hands before they disappeared from his view. Continuing to wander, he lost himself in his thoughts and critiques of the displayed artwork.

"Justin? Justin Taylor?"

Turning towards the voice, he found the woman addressing him with a warm smile.

"You're Justin Taylor, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am." He smiled back as they shook hands. "And you must be Lindsay Peterson."

"I can see why Brian calls you Sunshine. What a beautiful smile you have."

Justin's face tinted a slight pink at the words. "Thank you. It seems you've got me at a disadvantage, though. You know about me, but I know nothing of you - apart from you being a friend of Brian's and owning this gallery."

Lindsay rolled her dark eyes with a 'tut tut.' "That's so typical of Brian. Let's go to my office, and we'll fill in the blanks he's left over coffee, okay?"

"Sounds good to me." Justin made himself comfortable after Lindsay showed him the way and poured two cups of coffee, suddenly remembering the message he was supposed to pass on. "Oh, Brian said to tell you that he loves Gus."

Lindsay turned, the cups in her hands, detecting from Justin's expression that Brian had left out that piece of info, too.

"Brian hasn't even told you about our son?"

Justin felt himself pale at the news. "Your son?" he whispered.

"Oh, my god!" Lindsay gasped. "I'm so sorry, Justin. The next time I talk with Brian, he's going to have a piece of my mind over this. Okay, let me explain about Gus. When my partner and I were ready to have a child, we talked about donor fathers until we were blue in the face. I wanted Brian, but Mel wanted someone else entirely as she and Brian don't exactly hitch horses." Lindsay saw the look of relief wash over his face. "You didn't know that I'm a lesbian either?"

Justin smiled.

"I think we can safely say no on that, too." Spying the large black portfolio at his side, she sought to lighten the mood. "May I take a look at your work?" she asked, thinking it best to let the recent news settle before disclosing any more.

"I'd love to get your opinion," Justin said, handing his latest pieces to her.

Lindsay was bowled over by the standard of the art she examined. "These are superb, Justin," she gushed, revealing just how talented she thought he was. In her eyes, his portraits were the attention grabbers. "You have an amazing feel for the human form. How long have you been drawing?" She guessed he'd been at it from an early age, not at all surprised to learn she was right.

"My mom bought me crayons when I was still in the crib, and I've never stopped."

"Your parents must be very proud of your skill with a brush and pencil."

"My mom is. She prides herself on having an artist in the family. As for my asshole father, he'd rather I followed in his footsteps into the business world than waste my time with something as faggotty as art. They split shortly after I came out. He still lays the blame on me, but their marriage was well over before that."

Certain she had a young artist who was destined to be a huge hit in the art world on her hands, Lindsay's mind went to work. "I'm helping to put on a show of all types of art at the GLC, and I'd love to include some of your pieces. Would you like to come over to my place for dinner tonight? We can discuss it, and you can meet Mel and Gus."

Justin jumped at the offer. "Thanks. I'd like that. And Brian told me to be sure to ask to see your work, too - to insist. Maybe you can show me when I'm there."

Lindsay was beginning to see how Brian could be smitten with this attractive boy and why he'd been crying off from the family dinners at Debbie's lately. "I think that can be arranged," she nodded. "Plus I can finish filling in the gaps Brian's left in a few areas. What time's good for you?"

"Any time." Justin shrugged. "I can help with the cooking if you like."

"How about half past six? That way you can help with Gus and the cooking," she suggested, not really thinking he'd go for it.

"Sounds great! Thanks, Lindsay. I'm looking forward to it already."

"I hope you're okay with vegetarian food," she added, handing Justin's drawings back to him. "Let me give you my card." Reaching into her desk drawer, she scribbled the address and directions to her house on the back of it. "Don't hesitate to call if you have any problems or questions, okay?"

Justin pocketed the card and repacked his portfolio. "I really appreciate you taking the time to look at my work," he told her.

"I'm honoured you wanted me to see it. Brian was right to call me. You have a talent that needs to be exposed, and I'm going to make sure it happens." Lindsay smiled warmly at her new friend. "See you tonight, Justin."

"Later."

"So how'd it go, Sunshine?" Brian used a few free minutes to phone Justin after receiving his text about the meeting with Lindsay.

"Really well! She was impressed by what she saw."

"Sounds like me when I saw the size of your dick."

Justin laughed. "She liked my portraits in particular. She said I have an amazing feel for the human form."

"I've found that, too," Brian cracked. "Your text said Lindsay invited you to dinner tonight?"

"Uh huh. I'm helping with the meal and also with your son Mr. Kinney."

Brian heard the inflection in his voice. "Whoa! I'm sensing that Sunshine is pissed off at me. I'm sorry, Justin. I didn't do it on purpose. Did Lindsay tell you how I came to be Gus's dad?"

"Not exactly. She referred to you as the donor father. Tell me, Brian. Did you actually fuck her?"

"Hell, no! I jerked off into a cup, and Mel used a turkey baster or whatever the fuck it was to squirt it up her."

"Gross."

"Gross or not, that's the way he was conceived, and nine months later Sonny Boy was born."

Justin picked up on Brian's pride as he spoke about his son. "Do you have much to do with bringing him up?"

"That's all down to the munchers, but I try to see him as much as I can." Brian's tone became serious. "Does it bother you that I'm a dad, Justin?"

"No way. I think it's great. I hope to be a dad someday myself. Although it would have been nice if I'd known all this before I met the lesbian mother of your son, dickhead." Justin chuckled at his mock anger, Brian joining in also. "Oh, and that reminds me . . . The next time you two talk, Lindsay's gonna chew you a new one for not telling me. Just giving you fair warning."

"Hey, I can handle Lindz. As for you, young man . . ."

"Are you implying that I'm too much to handle for an old geezer such as yourself?"

"Jesus! I'm not that fucking old!" Brian growled. "What you have, I love to handle. And I happen to want more of it. It's so boring here, it's unreal. Can't fucking wait to get home to you."

"Don't you mean home to fucking me?" Justin laughed.

"Both!" was the quick reply.

"Hasn't anyone hit on you? I thought you'd be fucking your way through a bunch of hot guys while you're away."

"Plenty have made it known that they'd like to get to know my dick. I'm just not interested in them. The only hot guy I want is you, Sunshine."

"I wish you were getting back tonight, Brian."

"Me, too. But I've got another brain-draining talk to attend. Text me when you're back at the loft after meeting Sonny Boy, and we can say goodnight in a much more pleasurable way."

"Okay. Later."

"Later, Sunshine."

"Hi, Justin. Come on in." Lindsay greeted her guest warmly when he bounded up the front steps and rang the doorbell.

"Thanks." He handed her the bottle of wine he'd brought and stepped inside.

Lindsay gestured toward the living room. "There's a little boy in there who's eager to meet his daddy's friend."

Walking in, Justin saw a dark haired woman sitting on the floor playing with a little boy. He was surprised to find a pair of familiar hazel eyes staring up at him when Gus turned his head.

"This is my wife, Melanie, or Mel as most people call her, and our son, Gus," Lindsay told told him.

"Hi, Justin. Pleased to meet you." Mel rose from the floor to shake his hand. "I'm looking forward to seeing your work. Lindz hasn't stopped raving about it all afternoon."

"Nice to meet you too, Mel. I guess you've also heard about the shock I received at the gallery?" Justin laughed.

Mel nodded. "That sounds like Brian. The asshole," she bristled.

Lindsay shot her a warning glare. The three adults hadn't even noticed that Gus had gotten up and was standing next to Justin.

"Will you play with me?" he asked, tugging on Justin's pant leg.

Smiling brightly at the small copy of Brian, Justin felt a pull deep in his chest. He laid his coat on a nearby chair when Gus led him by the hand over to the toys. "I'd be happy to play with you, Gus. Wow! You've got some great toys," he commented, kneeling down beside the youngster.

Lindsay and Mel laced fingers, watching the two play with an array of dinosaurs. They liked Justin. Justin could stay. "We'll start dinner while you guys get to know each other," Lindsay said, pulling Mel towards the kitchen.

Absorbed in play, a dark head and a blond one touched together as a fight broke out between a and a stegosaurus on the floor of a house in Pittsburgh.