Thanks to muffin_donat2007 for the beautiful banners. I'm Laina, and this is my part. Brian's POV It's been six months, half a year, since Lindsay and Melanie died. Gus has been living with me since the day after they died. Everything has changed so much since they died. I've had to change Gus to another school, and tons of other things. I moved out of the loft and into a three bedroom house. My corvette is in the shop, so I've been using my new Jeep lately. I sigh softly, looking around my office. My agency Kinnetik Inc. is getting ready to merge with a new company. I'm trying to hurry and finish some last minute details before the owner of JT Advertising shows up. Just as I put the finishing touches on my newest account, there is a knock on my office door. Then Cynthia pokes her head in my office. "Boss, the owner of JT Advertising is here for the meeting." I look at my watch, and sigh when I realize that the owner of JT Advertising must have been waiting for several minutes. I close the file I was working on, and as I'm about to go and meet the owner of JT Advertising, my cell phone rings. I'm about to turn it off, when I recognize the number of the school where Gus goes. I quickly toss my things back on my desk, and answer. "Hello?" The woman on the other end identifies herself as a teacher at the school. When I command her to tell me about Gus, she does. "I'm sorry Mr. Kinney. Gus fell off the top of the monkey bars. He broke his left arm and twisted his left ankle." She continues talking for a few minutes, and then I tell her that I'm on my way. I hang up, and shout at Cynthia to reschedule all of my meetings for another day. As I pull my keys from my pocket, I hear someone walk into my office. Thinking that it's Cynthia, I don't look up. I snap, "I thought I told you to cancel that fucking meeting?!" When I don't get an answer, I look up and into the bluest eyes I've ever seen. "Mr. Kinney? I'm Justin Taylor, owner of JT Advertising. Your assistant has informed me that you have a family emergency. When would be a good time for you to reschedule?" I finish stuffing my things into my briefcase, and then turn back to the younger man. The guy is beautiful, even though he looks like a kid. His blonde hair and blue eyes match perfectly with his pale skin. I say, "Next week." A moment later Justin Taylor speaks, and his voice is soft yet firm. "I'm afraid I won't be in town next week." I sigh and set down my things. I turn to face Justin Taylor again, and try to reel in my annoyance at this man who could possibly be the answer to my problems. "Listen kid, I don't need this shit. You either want to merge our businesses, or not. It's that simple." I pick up my things once more, and then say, "My kid needs me. If you find you still want to do the merge, then give the information to my secretary." Then I brush past him and out the door of my office. I get into my jeep, and start for Allegheny. Sighing softly, I pull up at the hospital and I have to stop myself from bolting from my jeep. I turn off my jeep, undo my seatbelt, and I get out of my vehicle. I lock the doors, and then go inside the hospital. Walking in, I walk up to the nurse's station. "I'm here for my son. His name is Gus Marcus-Peterson." The woman asks for my name, and some ID. I roll my eyes, and pull my wallet from my pocket. I pull out my driver's license, and show it to the woman. She types something in her computer. After a moment, she nods at me and says, "This way please, Mr. Kinney." I follow behind her silently, nervously. I need to see Gus soon. I need to know for myself that he's alright. I couldn't stand to lose him, and especially so soon after losing Lindsay. It would fucking kill me. The nurse leads me to a small room. When we walk inside, I'm so relieved to see Gus sitting on a hospital bed getting his arm and ankle taken care of. I quickly walk over to my son and ask softly, "You doing okay, Sonny Boy?" When Gus nods at me, I feel my heart go back to it's normal speed. After the doctor finishes taking care of my Sonny Boy, I fill out some papers and then we are free to go. I help Gus to the jeep and then quickly get him settled inside of it. Then I go around to my side and get inside. I put my seatbelt on, and check my mirrors. Then I start the jeep and back out slowly. I drive us to the house, and we arrive thirty minutes later. I get out of the jeep, and help Gus out of the vehicle. I go and quickly unlock the door, and then walk back over to Gus and help him inside of our house. I settle him down on the couch, and put his things down. I set his bookbag down on the ground by the couch. Turning to my son, I ask if he has any homework. Gus nods, and says that he does. I tell him that we will do it later, and I'm glad that Gus is only in first grade right now. I know that when he gets older, his homework is going to be hard as hell. I can barely wait to deal with multiplying and fractions again, oh joy. I roll my eyes, and then go about fixing my Sonny Boy something to eat. I know that he likes to eat pizza a lot, so I pull out one of those frozen pizza dinners, and take the cover off. Then I get everything ready, and then put it in the oven. Walking back over to the couch, I take a seat next to Gus. "So, what kind of homework do you have today, Sonny Boy?" Gus asks me to grab his bookbag and I do. I hand it to him, and he begins to pull out his books. We work on writing his words and saying them. We work on his spelling and reading. In the middle of doing his homework, I go and check on his pizza. When it has cooked enough, I take it out of the oven, and set it on top. I turn the oven off, and let the pizza cool. Then I go and sit next to Gus again. We resume working on his homework. When we are done, I cut the pizza up for Gus. He eats his dinner, and asks me if I'll eat with him. Even though I have my no carbs after seven rule, I know that I'll do anything for my son. "Sure Sonny Boy," I say softly. We spend the meal in silence. Neither one of us knows what to talk about. But suddenly, Gus asks me a question that I don't know how the hell to answer. "Why didn't you and momma Mel ever get along?" I swallow the bite of pizza I had just taken. The first answer that comes to mind, is because Mel was an annoying bitch who wanted to keep him and Lindsay away from me. But I don't say that, I can't say that to my son. He's already been through so much shit. So I edit my answer a little bit. "Melanie and I never got along, because the two of us were so much alike. We didn't take any lies or excuses from anyone. We also loved you and your mother so much, that it seemed like we were trying to keep you and your mother away from the other." Gus nods, and he takes another bite of his pizza. He remains quiet, thinking about what I've said. After a few minutes, Gus sets down his piece of pizza again. Looking at me, he asks, "Dad, are you ever going to get married like mom and momma did?" I bite back my automatic reaction of shouting 'fuck that,' and I just smile at my son. "Sonny Boy, I don't plan on getting married in the near future. If it happens, then great. But if not, then I've still got you, and that's enough for me." I pull Gus to me, and hug him tightly. My son is the only thing that keeps me going. Without him, I'd be dead right now. But since I have my Sonny Boy, I continue to struggle with the pain that threatens to drown me. I can't let anyone know that anything is wrong. Deb and Mikey worry too much as it is. I don't need them freaking out over the way I'm feeling, and I definitely don't want Gus to know. He's just getting used to being around me, and I don't want anything or anyone to fuck this up. Agreeing to father Gus, is the best fucking thing that I've ever done. When the hug ends, we both sit back in our respective spots. When we are finished eating, I pick up all the plates, cups, and everything else. I quickly do the dishes, and then ask Gus what kind of movie he wants to watch. My son tells me that he wants to watch a Monster Trucks tape I bought him. I bought it for Gus for his last birthday. So when he expresses the interest to watch it, I nod and get up to put the tape in. We watch the movie, and when Gus falls asleep, I turn it off. Then I get up, and bring my son and place him in his bed. I cover him, and then leave the room silently. Walking back to my own room, I sigh softly and start taking off my clothes. I toss them in the dirty clothes hamper, and head for the bathroom to take a shower. When I finish thirty minutes later, I feel refreshed. So I climb into bed naked, and pull the duvet over me. My blue lights dance over my bed, casting a strange glow on my duvet, but I don't give a shit. I fix my pillows, and try to get comfortable. I haven't had a good night's sleep since Lindsay died. Every night I lie here in my bed, wondering and fearing that I'm screwing up my son. I don't like thinking this way, but sometimes these thoughts won't leave me alone. So I run a hand through my hair, and try to think of something that will help me to be able to sleep. Suddenly, the image of Justin Taylor in my office, comes to mind. Damn, that kid is hot. With the image of Justin Taylor in mind, I feel myself grow hard. However, since I'm so fucking tired, I decide not to jack off. I'm at the point where taking a whole fucking bottle of sleeping pills is looking really good right now. But I can't, though. I need to try and sleep without the fucking pills. I need to be able to wake up if Gus needs me for something. After trying to get comfortable several more times, I give up. I stay on my back, and then I finally, thankfully, feel sleep grab hold of me. The next morning when I wake up, it's to the sound of my cell phone ringing. I grab the fucking thing and get ready to chew someone a new one. However, when I answer, Cynthia's voice greets me and so I shut up and listen to what she has to say. She tells me that Justin Taylor of JT Advertising is there, and is demanding my presence. I tell her that I'm staying home to take care of Gus. I listen as she relays the information to Justin Taylor, and then comes back on the line again. "He says if you don't show up, he's walking." I let out a loud, pissed off sigh. Then I say, "We'll be there in fifteen." Then I slam my cell phone shut, and go to wake up Gus. I tell him that we have to go to my work today, and he nods. Gus takes a quick bath, and pretty soon the two of us are on our way. I'm going to tear this guy a new one, when we get there. He specifically heard me say that I had a family emergency, and that I wouldn't be able to work with him until next week. So I'm going to tear him a fucking new one, or tell the fucker to just walk.