Not Easy - Part 5
“How about this one?” Brian pointed.
“A bunk bed?” Justin looked at him like he was crazy.
Brian had finally talked Justin into buying Molly a bed.
“Why not?”
“It’s a bunk bed,” Justin said as if that explained everything. He started to get used to Brian acting like a kid when he was around Molly, but there were limits to everything.
“Exactly.”
“It’s a bunk bed,” Justin repeated.
“It’s cool.”
“Cool?” Justin couldn’t believe those words actually left Brian’s lips.
“Yeah. And Gus will have a place to sleep when he stays at the loft.”
Being voted the adult in their little family Justin had to put his foot down. “First of all, Gus is too young to sleep in the bunk bed. Second of all, Molly’s too old to sleep in a bunk bed. Now, let’s go find my sister a bed and get out of here,” Justin took Brian’s hand in his own and pulled him away from the bed in question.”
“But…” Brian tried to object, but Justin just gripped his hand tighter and walked faster.
~~
“Now, see, isn’t this a lot nicer?” Justin asked pointing to the bed they finally agreed on. They moved the chaise closer to the bedroom and put Molly’s bed and a small dresser into that corner.
“I still say we should have gotten the bunk bed,” Brian pouted.
“So do I,” Molly chimed in. Those two teaming up against Justin was a constant now.
Justin rolled his eyes, then pulled up a chair and stepped on it putting finishing touches on the drape that was going to give Molly some privacy and a feeling of having her own little room.
“Hey, Mol, I forgot the duct tape in the Jeep, can you run down and get it?” Justin said.
Molly grabbed the keys from the counter and ran out.
“I like this,” Brian said, looking at the drape.
“I made sure it matched the ones on the windows,” Justin replied, getting down from the chair.
They stood back admiring the view. It actually fit in pretty well with the rest of the décor of the loft.
Brian looked at Justin only to see that the younger man was staring at him. “What?”
Justin shook his head, “Nothing.” He walked over to the kitchen, pulling the fridge door open, “I’m starved.”
“So, are you gonna ask me?”
Justin closed the door and came face to face with Brian. “Ask you what?”
“What you’ve been trying to ask me since Thursday,” Brian said.
Justin looked at him, then away. “It’s nothing. Forget it.”
“What is it?”
Justin looked back at him. Brian raised his left eyebrow as if telling him to go on.
“It’s Molly’s birthday next Friday and I just thought...I wanted to have a…surprise party for her.” Noticing the look on Brian’s face, Justin quickly said, “But it’s a crazy idea. Forget I said anything. I’ll just take her to the bowling alley or something.” He looked away and opened the fridge again.
A moment later he felt Brian’s hands around his waist. He turned around.
“It’s ok,” Brian said.
“What?” Justin couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“I said it’s ok. We can have a party here.”
“You do realize that it means there will be at least fifteen eleven-year olds running around listening to Britney Spears, not to mention the balloons and…”
Brian silenced him with a kiss.
When they finally broke the kiss Justin stared at Brian. “Why are you being so good to me?”
“Because I…” Brian swallowed hard, “Because somebody has to be.” They stared at each other. “Besides, this ass will be good to me later tonight,” Brian said, slapping Justin’s butt.
Justin smiled, then kissed him again.
“Justin, I got it,” Molly yelled as she ran up the stairs.
~~
“Ok, so I need to get balloons and order cake,” Justin said more to himself than anybody else while he was going over the list of things to do before the party.
“Why don’t you just let me take care of it? Since you have classes today,” Brian said.
“Oh, no, you are NOT planning any more parties…EVER,” Justin said. After Michael’s thirtieth birthday party and after what Brian pulled during the Rage party at Babylon, Justin decided that organizing parties wasn’t for Brian.
“Hey, my parties are great,” Brian pretended to be offended.
“Yeah, too great. Somebody always ends up with their hearts torn out.” Brian winced realizing what Justin was referring to. It didn’t take long for Justin to figure out exactly what he did and why, especially since he was there during Michael’s thirtieth birthday party as well. “Besides, I have help.”
“Please don’t tell me it’s Emmett.”
Justin laughed, “No.”
Brian sighed in relief.
“It’s Lindsay.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Brian asked. “Did you see what she did for Gus’s birthday?”
“Oh, shut up. It was great,” Justin slapped his arm.
“She’s a dyke. What does she know about planning a party?” Brian whined again.
Justin just shook his head at him, “I gotta get going or I’ll be late.” He gave the other man a quick kiss on the lips.
~~
It was finally Friday. Justin took the day off from work and school and he and Molly spent the whole day together. He told her that he didn’t have money for a big party and that he thought that since it was her first birthday since their mother died, they should just spend it together. He could see Molly was disappointed, but she agreed. They went to the zoo, then had a very greasy lunch, and topped it all off with going to an ice cream parlor. They two of them had a blast together.
It was almost six o’clock when Justin pulled into the parking space in front of their building, telling Molly that they would get Brian and go out to dinner.
The loft was dark when they walked in. Justin hit the switch and everybody yelled “Surprise.” Molly just stood there with her mouth open and a surprised and amazed look on her face.
“Happy Birthday,” Justin said, hugging her from behind, then kissed her on the cheek. He thought she’d run to her friends, but she turned around and hugged him back.
“You did all this for me?” she asked as she pulled away.
“Well,” he looked up to see Brian standing next to them, “Brian helped a little bit.”
Brian made a face at him, but then Molly turned around and threw her arms around him as well.
~~
To Justin’s surprise, Brian was handling the whole thing a lot better than he’d imagined. He just stood by the kitchen counter with their friends, sipping beer and watching the kids run around, dance, and just have fun.
“What are you smiling about?” He heard Justin come up from behind.
“Nothing,” he turned around.
Justin looked at Molly dancing and smiled as well, “She’s having a ball.”
Brian smiled again.
“Thank you,” Justin said, putting his arms around Brian’s waist. Brian looked around to see if any of the other parents were watching them, but Justin put his left hand on his cheek to get his attention.
“I don’t care,” he said when Brian was about to protest. Then Justin pulled him in closer and kissed him softly.
“I think it’s time for presents,” Justin said when they pulled apart.
~~
Molly got a bunch of dolls and different games, little skirts and shirts, hair accessories. She opened each present slowly, just reveling in the feeling of complete happiness.
“It’s a Barbie journal,” she exclaimed, showing the present to everybody. “It’s so cool,” she gushed, then gave her best friend a hug.
Next she picked up a box with a huge pink bow on it. “Who’s this from?” she asked.
“It’s from Brian,” Justin said, when Brian just looked away.
Molly busied herself with trying carefully open the box without tearing the beautiful wrapping paper too much.
“Would you just open it?” Justin said laughing. He couldn’t believe that Brian was actually nervous about whether or not she’d like his present.
She finally tore enough paper away to open the box. She gasped as she pulled the object out of the box. It was a green and white dress that she’s been dreaming about for months.
She ran over to Brian and threw her arms around him, giving him a huge peck on the cheek. “How did you know?”
“I saw you eyeing it when we were at the mall,” he said as she finally pulled away.
She clutched the dress close to her body as if it was the most priceless possession, showing it off to all of her friends.
“You do realize that you’re spoiling her, right?” Justin said to him.
“It’s her birthday,” Brian defended himself, but Justin just smiled and shook his head.
“You were in the mall?” Emmett asked, surprised.
Brian ignored him and called after Molly, “You have one more present.” He pointed to the small package on the table.
Justin’s face got serious, “You know, why don’t you save that one for tomorrow, huh?” he said to his sister.
“Why? Who is it from?” she asked.
“Me.”
Her face lit up again. “Can I open it now? Please?”
Justin looked at her pleading face, then at everybody else’s confused looks. He gave in, “Sure.”
Molly tore the paper quickly, her smile disappearing when she saw the contents inside. It was a drawing of her with Jennifer. She stared down at the drawing for a long time.
When Molly finally looked up at him, she had tears in her eyes. Justin looked down, hating the fact that he had ruined her birthday. The next thing he knew she had her arms around him, hugging him as tight as she could. “I love you,” she whispered.
He sighed and hugged her even closer, “I love you too.”
“This is the best present I’ve ever gotten,” she told him when they pulled apart.
Justin looked at his lover standing next to him, “I think you’re hurting Brian’s feelings,” he joked which earned him not one but two smiles.
“Well, I think you’ve opened all of the presents,” Debbie said, starting to clean up the torn wrapping paper.
“There’s one more,” they heard a voice from across the room.
Looking up they saw Craig Taylor standing by the door.
Go to Part 6