Finding My Way to You 3 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Walking up the darkened driveway toward his house that lit up the sky, Justin reflected on what had happened. He couldn’t believe the kindness of Brian, to put him in his own bed, to sleep on a too small sofa and to have made him dinner. Justin looked at the covered plate in his hand. His stomach rumbled, it had been a long time since he had shared grilled cheese sandwiches with Gus and Burt. He couldn’t believe he’d slept almost twelve hours. He had been lucky in the last year to sleep two hours at a time. Almost like a dream Justin remembered Brian undressing him and tucking the blankets around him. He was sure he felt a kiss, but he shook his head, that couldn’t be possible, but still his face lit up with a smile at the very thought of being kissed by Brian. In his kitchen, Justin placed the plate of food in the microwave while he found himself a glass and poured some wine he had in the fridge. When his dinner was heated he sat at his table and stared at the latest picture featuring his dream Brian while he ate the dinner ‘this’ Brian had prepared. In his dream, Brian either couldn’t or didn’t cook. He existed on take out or the odd meal at friends homes or in restaurants. Justin was impressed with the quality and taste of his meal, even allowing for the fact it had been reheated, it still rivaled anything he’d eaten in a long time. He finished his dinner, a smile on his lips as he stared at ‘his’ dream Brian. He thought about going to bed, but somehow his bed seemed empty and he longed to return to the warm bed he’d just left, only this time to have that long lanky body next to his, naked under the covers, touching each other, body to body as they spooned together in sleep. Brian lay on the sofa, his forehead tingling where Justin has kissed him. He’d been awake as soon as the younger man had placed the quilt over him, but because he was undecided as to how to handle Justin fainting and then sleeping for almost ten hours, he said nothing. He’d smiled to himself when he heard the fridge opening, he was glad Justin would have something good to eat for his late supper. He listened to the scratch of the pen on the note paper and wondered what was being written. Finally, all too soon, the door opened and shut and Justin was gone. A few more minutes dozing on the sofa and then Brian stood up; he couldn’t stay there and be able to walk in the morning. Curiosity drew him to the counter and the notepaper and he smiled when he saw the small sketch of Gus and Burt. He found another alphabet magnet and added the picture to the fridge along side the one Gus had made. Turning off the kitchen light Brian made his way to his bed. He climbed into the spot recently vacated by Justin and he was sure he could still feel Justin’s body heat. His head on the pillow, Brian shut his eyes as he lay there trying to remember the feel of the other man’s body when he undressed him. He vowed that the next time he undressed the slender body, it would be far different. With fantasy scenes running through his brain, Brian fell into a peaceful sleep. “Daddy, daddy, daddy,” Gus cried out and jumped on Brian in bed. “Justin is gone.” Brian laughed, “Maybe he’s under the covers.” He teased. “Daddy, he is not, I looked already.” Gus was indignant. “You looked?” Brian ruffled Gus’ already messy bed head. “You are absolutely sure you looked and he isn’t here?” “Daaaaaddy.” “Justin had to go home Sonny Boy. He has work to do and so do you.” Brian swung his long legs out of bed. “Are you making me pancakes or waffles this morning?” he asked. “Daaaadddy, I’m too little to make that.” He looked at Brian, his head to one side. “I could make you cereal, fruit loops and more fruit loops and I can make coffee.” Brian always had the coffee maker loaded and ready to go first thing in the morning. Gus was the one who turned it on. He loved to ‘make’ Brian’s coffee. “You make the coffee and I’ll make you pancakes. Every boy should have pancakes on his first day at school. It’ll make you strong and very smart.” Brian and Gus worked in the kitchen getting breakfast ready. It was something they always had enjoyed doing as it was the one time of the day that Brian had always managed to have time free. Brian was looking forward to spending more time with his son and he knew that the boy was good for him as well. Soon it was time to leave for school. Because the school was only a few blocks away, Brian and Gus decided to walk, the weather was great and this way Brian could see if the road really would be alright for Gus to ride a bicycle on it. “Daddy how come there are no red trees here?” Gus asked as they walked along. The few deciduous trees were mostly sumac and aspen. Gus had to be referring to the maple trees in Pittsburgh. “There aren’t many maples here Gus; the winter isn’t cold enough for them. He pointed to a majestic pine tree in a yard they were passing – now look at that tree, you can’t even wrap your arms around that one.” Gus strained his head back. “I can’t see the top” “Oh I’m sure there’s a top.” “Like Jack in the Beanstalk, it’s way high in the clouds.” Gus offered. “Not that high, but high. Brian pointed out another tree “Look at that one, what does it look like to you?” “It looks like a whole bunch of curly monkey tails.” Gus giggled. “And that’s what it is, it’s a monkey tail tree. It stays green all year round.” “Cool, can we get one?” Gus asked. “We can see if Auntie Em will let us plant a little one.” Brian suggested. “Justin will let us plant one; he had lots and lots of room.” “A tree is a big responsibility Gus, Justin might not like that we give him a tree.” “I bet he’d like a tree.” Gus said. “He said flowers make him sneeze.” “Well, maybe once we get to know him a bit better, you can suggest a tree.” “Oh daddy, a Grinch Christmas tree.” Gus pointed to the tall weeping fir tree in the school yard. Brian laughed; it did look like the tree in the Grinch movie. “I think that’s a weeping fir tree.” “It doesn’t have fur.” “That the name of the tree.” “Cool” Gus looked at the tree. “They have weird trees here in Washington.” “Well, keep that little fact to yourself Sonny Boy, nobody wants some cute stranger coming into their class and telling everyone their trees are strange.” Gus giggled “I guess.” He looked around with interest. “Hey there’s Justin.” He waved and called. “Justin, Justin, it’s me Gus.” Justin had been riding his bike down the road. He turned off and walked up to Brian and Gus. “Hi, Gus, Brian.” He looked into Brian’s eyes, “Look, Brian, I’m sorry about yesterday.” “Sorry is bullshit.” Brian began. “Daddy,” Gus shook his head. “I’m trying to teach him not to use swears.” “Teaching old dogs new tricks isn’t easy.” Justin laughed, he laughed even harder when he saw the look on Brian’s face. “Anyway Brian, I am, sorry I mean. I don’t usually faint when I meet someone and then spend the rest of the day in their bed.” “You can spend any time you want in my bed.” Brian said and he laughed when Justin blushed bright red. “I didn’t mean it to come out like that.” “I bet you didn’t” Justin said. The school bell rang. “Gus and I have school today so we’d better get going.” “Yeah, sure.” Justin looked at Gus. “You have a super day at school, remember all the good parts and come on over and tell me when you get home.” He looked at Brian “That’s if it’s okay with your dad.” “Can daddy come too, he gets lonely if I’m gone too long.” “Sure, I’ll even make supper, kind of a payback for yesterday’s fiasco.” “You don’t have to do that.” Brian began. “No I don’t, but I want to. See you both at five; we’ll eat early in deference to those of us who need to get our sleep for school.” “That means me.” Gus said. “Come on daddy, we’re going to be late.” Brian looked at Justin. “Later” he said, he took Gus’ hand and the two of them walked into the school. They headed in the direction of the school office, which was well marked with easily read signs. The advertiser in Brian approved. Once they reached the office, Brian said to the receptionist. “Gus Kinney is here to be enrolled in grade one.” Brian handed the woman a folder he’d been carrying. “These are his transfer papers from Pittsburgh.” “If you and Gus would like to take a seat, the Vice Principal will see you in a few moments. He’s a bit late this morning, but I’m sure he’ll be in shortly.” She looked at Gus. “Gus, that little girl over there is new today too. She just moved here from Dallas, that’s in Texas. Her name is Leticia. Do you want to go and say hi to her, she’s very shy.” “Okay.” Gus walked over to the little girl who was sitting all alone. Her eyes were filled with fear. “Hi, my name is Gus. How come you don’t have your daddy with you?” “My daddy is workin.” “Where’s your mommy?” “Workin” “My mommies are in Heaven, but my daddy is here. You can come and sit with us, I’ll share him with you, and he’s very big.” “You will?” “Yep, what’s your name again, I forget.” “Leticia, but everybody calls me Letty.” “My real name is very long, I’m Augustus Peterson Marcus Kinney, but you can call me Gus.” “Okay.” Letty held out her hand and Gus took it. Together they walked back to Brian. “Daddy, this is Letty, she’s going to share you with me, her daddy and mommy are working.” “So I heard.” Brian smiled at the little girl. “It’s nice to make your acquaintance Letty.” “Hi,” she said shyly, not looking up at Brian. “He’s not really scary” Gus whispered to her. “He’s just kind of big and gruff.” “Gruff like the billy goats gruff?” Letty said referring to a fairy tale. “Sort of like that.” Gus agreed. Brian rolled his eyes and hoped they didn’t have to wait much longer. “Mr. Taylor will see you now.” The receptionist said. “Letty is going to come with Gus and I if that’s alright.” Brian said as he stood. He held out his hands and each child took one. “That’s fine.” The receptionist beamed. It had been her whole point in the first place, having Gus team up with Letty on their first day. It made things less frightening for the two children if they had an ally. “Mr. Kinney, Gus and Letty, come on in and have a seat.” Brian looked up at the familiar voice and he smirked. “Mr. Taylor, imagine meeting you here.” “Justin, is that really you?” Gus asked his eyes wide looking at Justin who stood there dressed in a casually cut, but designer suit. Justin grinned at all of them. “It’s really me. I’m the Vice Principal here for the next six months. The previous one is home with her new baby and I was qualified so I got the job. It keeps me busy during the week.” “You’ll like him Letty, he’s really neat and he likes grilled cheese.” Gus spoke to the little girl who smiled up at Justin shy, but confident that what Gus said was true. “Gus since you and I know each other, you can tell Letty all my good points. I’ll find Mrs. Lewis and she can take the two of you to your classroom.” “Daddy, you can stay and talk to Justin, I have to look after Letty. Don’t forget to pick me up after school.” He turned to Letty. “Did you bring your lunch too?” She nodded yes. “Cool, I’ll share my cheese sandwich with you if you have some good stuff.” Gus took her hand and led her out of the office with Justin following. Justin spoke a few words to the receptionist who smiled at the children and led them out of the office and into the hallway to quickly disappear from Brian’s sight. “You know, you look incredibly hot Mr. Taylor.” Brian said with a grin. “I just wanted to establish that fact right away.” “You don’t look bad yourself Mr. Kinney and your dinner last night was wonderful.” “It would have been better earlier.” “Perhaps.” Justin sat on the edge of his desk, one leg swinging as he beamed down at Brian. “Your Gus is perfect for Letty. When I saw her file on Friday I was worried she’d have a rough time her first day. She’s very shy since her accident. It was one of the reasons her parents changed her school. The other children teased her so much she refused to go back.” “Shit Justin, she’s just a little kid. That’s no way to start school.” “No it isn’t. I see that Gus had a problem attending the school in Pittsburgh. Do you know why? He’s certainly not shy.” “I think it was a combination of losing his mothers and moving in with me, everything kind of came to grinding halt in his life and then moved on only differently. I didn’t have a lot of experience with him, with any child. His mothers kept him to themselves except for the odd weekend and let’s face it – where else would I have any contact with children.” “He’s very happy with you now. He’s delighted that you are at home more. He says you’re a gardener.” Brian burst out laughing. “I can be. But I haven’t done much in the yard since I was a teen. I own an advertising agency in Pittsburgh. I’ve taken a sabbatical from it for the rest of this school year. I want to give Gus a chance to get his life back on track.” “So you’re only here for a few months.” Justin tried not to sound disappointed. “Nothing is cast in stone Justin, as I’m sure your life isn’t as well. I understand you are an artist that is on his way to becoming quite famous and now I find you in an elementary school.” “What can I say, I’m a man who is versatile.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth Justin flushed. Brian smiled at Justin, his eyes speaking volumes. “I like that in a man, versatility.” He said quietly. “I bet you do Mr. Kinney.” Justin stood up and adjusted his trousers that were becoming tighter than the norm. He moved behind his desk and sat down, glad of the concealment. Brian’s smile only became wider and his eyes told Justin he knew why the man was sitting down behind the desk. He stood up. “I’d better get going and allow you to do your job Mr. Taylor. Shall I bring anything to dinner tonight?” “No, I have it under control.” He looked at Brian. “Let’s see I’ve got bread, butter, cheese slices and oh yes ketchup. That pretty much covers it.” He laughed when Brian winced. “Did I mention that I don’t actually do much in the way of cooking?” “You aren’t serious are you?” Brian asked. “Pretty much, but I’m sure I can feed the three of us without poisoning us all. It’s very bad form to do in your guests on the first invitation, perhaps the second or third.” Justin teased. Brian took a piece of paper off of Justin’s desk and began to write. “If you pick these things up at the market, I’ll make you the best lasagna you’ve ever had. It’s a recipe that my best friend’s mother taught me years ago.” He looked at Justin his hazel eyes twinkling. “I’ll trust you to pick up the salad things; even a food challenged artist should be able to handle the salad.” “You mean one of those bags of salad.” Justin joked. Brian glared at him. “I was joking; I’ll get the real deal.” “I hope so; do you even know what they put on that stuff?” Brian shuddered. “I mean it has a shelf life of weeks, what salad things would last weeks?” “Okay already, I’ll buy fresh” Justin put up his hands and laughed. “Now leave me alone so I can work.” “I’ll be back at two for Gus. Oh by the way, where does this Letty kid live, maybe I can invite her over to play.” Justin looked at Letty’s folder in front of him. “She lives about a block from your place, but in the other direction, in that apartment complex on the corner.” “If I see her mother when I pick Gus up at two, I’ll ask her.” “Letty is in our after school program. Her mother won’t be picking her up until four thirty when she’s off work.” “That sucks for the kid if she’s that shy about her scarring.” Brian said. “I’ll have to see what I can do about that.” He walked around the desk and bent down kissing Justin softly and quickly. “Later” he whispered. Brian was out the door before Justin could react. He sat in his chair dazed, the fingers of his right hand touching his lips that were still feeling the heat of the gentle kiss. “Before Brian left the office he stopped at the receptionist’s desk. “You wouldn’t by any chance know where Letty’s mom works do you?” he asked using all the Kinney charm. The older lady smiled at his antics, she’d been there done that and bought the tee shirt, but she could tell Brian wasn’t out to cause any kind of trouble. “Her name is Annie and she works at the fish and chip shop down on Ocean Drive. You can’t miss it in the strip mall there. It has a bid (BIG)darn fish on the roof.” She smiled at him. “I’ll tell her you’re harmless when she calls to check on you.” Brian grinned at her. “Well, I’m harmless to the ladies, but you better keep me away from Mr. Taylor in there.” They both turned and grinned at the outraged shout of “Brian” from Justin’s office. “Oops, I’d better be going. Thanks Mrs. Lewis” Brian said with a laugh as he sauntered out of the office. “Mr. Kinney is quite the charmer.” Mrs. Lewis said to Justin. “I’m sure he’ll have Letty’s mother agreeing to almost anything. She looked at Justin who was sitting behind his desk, his face thoughtful, but with a large grin he couldn’t seem to stop. “He seems sweet on you.” Justin sat straighter and glared at Mrs. Lewis. “Don’t you have work to do?” he asked. But he couldn’t keep the stern look long and it was soon replaced with the silly grin again. Mrs. Lewis laughed to herself and left the office. Finally things were looking up for her co-worker. It was about time. Meanwhile in the first grade classroom Gus and Letty were both being introduced by the teacher, Mr. Walsh. “Class I’d like to introduce you to two new students today. Gus Kinney is here from Pittsburgh and Leticia Johnson is here from Dallas. I want you all to make them feel at home. Jason and Alison you two can be Gus and Leticia’s class buddy for today and show them where to find everything.” “Hi Gus, Hi Leticia” the class chorused. “Mr. Walsh” one of the boys had his hand up. “Yes, Matt.” “What’s wrong with Leticia’s face?” the little boy looked at the new girl curiously. Leticia turned her face to Gus and he could see tears in her eyes. “It’s none of your damned business.” Gus growled. “Haven’t you guys ever heard of manners?” he glared at all of them. “Her name is Letty and she’s my friend you all better remember that. Now say you’re sorry, you hurt Letty’s feelings.” “I’m sorry Letty.” Stammered the small boy as he looked fearfully at Gus. “Gus, we don’t use that word in our classroom.” Mr. Walsh chastised. “Sorry Mr. Walsh,” Gus said, but even the rest of the class could tell that Gus wasn’t sorry one bit. Gus took Letty’s hand. “Letty has to sit beside me.” He marched his new friend down the rows of desks until he came to two empty ones side by side. “Here Letty you sit here and I’ll be right beside you.” Letty climbed into her seat with a grateful look at Gus who smiled at her and got into the seat beside her. Mr. Walsh shook his head as he resumed the day’s work. This was going to be a more interesting year than usual. Gus Kinney would be giving them all a run for their money this year. Brian by now was almost home, he continued on walking until he reached the strip mall where Leticia’s mother worked. He wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing, but he knew that Gus could use a friend and little Leticia sure could as well. It wasn’t as if he was doing anything much during the day. Brian took a seat in the half empty diner. A cheerful looking young woman came up to him. “Would you like a menu?” she asked. “I’ll have coffee and two pieces of whole wheat toast, no butter.” Brian said. “Are you Mrs. Johnson, Leticia’s mom?” “Yes, is Letty alright?” she asked worried. “I didn’t want to leave her at the school by herself, but my boss wouldn’t like it if I was late for work. It’s only my first week here.” “Letty’s fine, my son Gus started today too. I’m Brian Kinney and we live down the block, the white stucco house in front of that big ugly frame one painted pink and green.” She giggled. “It’s supposed to look like that, it’s painted in Victorian colors. It’s really very beautiful.” “Yeah, well to each his own, I’ll pass on your compliments to the owner, Emmett Honeycutt.” Brian smiled at her. “The reason I’m here is, Justin Taylor the Vice Principal at the school said Letty is in the after school program. Gus and I don’t live far from you, would you consider letting Letty come to our place after school and on professional days if you have to work. It would give Gus a friend to play with and Letty wouldn’t have to be with everyone. I understand she’s sensitive about her face.” Brian smiled reassuringly “You can call Mr. Taylor, he’ll vouch for Gus and I.” Letty’s mother looked sad when Brian had mentioned her little girl’s face. “Mr. Kinney, I don’t know what to say, what about your wife, is she alright with this?” “Sorry, I didn’t mean to give you the impression there was a Mrs. Kinney. I’ll tell you right off, I’m gay, Gus’s two moms died last year in a plane crash, and they were good friends of mine. I’m his biological father and he came to me when they died. I’m in advertising, but I’m taking a sabbatical until Gus comes to terms with everything and I’m satisfied that he’s happy, which is why we moved across the country. I wanted him to have a diversion and Emmett, whose house we rent is a friend.” He looked at her. “Do you have a problem with me being gay?” he asked blunt and to the point. “Oh, no, I don’t, my husband’s best friend is gay and so is my brother.” She smiled. “It’s just that people don’t usually offer to do things for me and with Letty’s face. “Her voice trailed off. “Letty was attacked by a dog, he tore up her face pretty badly, and in fact she almost died. She has some bad scarring on her arms and legs as well.” “Has Letty seen a plastic surgeon?” Brian asked. “I hope you don’t mind me asking.” “No, I don’t mind. Letty has seen a number of them. There’s a plastic surgeon in Seattle who said he could fix at least the worst of it. But he’s very expensive. It’ll be a long time before we can save for it. But we’re working on it.” “What about the owner of the dog who attacked her, maybe you could sue for costs for the surgeon.” Brian suggested. “Something that a lot of people don’t understand is that it takes money to sue for money. We don’t have the money for the lawyer to even begin a civil lawsuit. And if it went wrong and we lost, we would not only not have any of our savings; we wouldn’t have helped Letty at all because we’d be right back where we started. Only she would have gone through the horror of being stared at in court.” Brian was silent for a moment. “I see,” was all he said. “Well, for now I think we should let your little girl enjoy what she can of her childhood. Gus and I would love to have her join us after school it that’s alright with you and your husband.” Brian stood up. He picked up her bill book and wrote his phone number on the back. “This is my number, you talk to your husband and give me a call if it’s okay to take Letty home with us at two.” He paused “Oh and don’t forget to call the school and let them know that we aren’t kidnapping her.” Brian walked back to his house deep in thought about how to help Letty and her family. It was one of his faults and one of his strongest suits, the need to ‘fix’ things for people he ran across and friends and family. It was also something he was shy about and rarely did anyone ever discover the benefactor behind his generosity. He spent the morning on the Internet researching, first the attack and then later how to repair the damage that had been done. He was appalled at how often such things happened and how little anything was done about it. Brian couldn’t help but wonder if Letty had been a little white girl from an affluent family, if more wouldn’t have come out of this whole affair. Instead she ranked right up there with gay bashings, something of momentary news interest, but quickly relegated to the back pages and then gone. While Brian was busy at home, Gus and Letty were settling in at school. At recess, Jason and Allison joined Gus and Letty. “I’m Jason and this is Allison. We can show where stuff is in the school and then we can go outside to play on the swings.” Gus looked at Letty to see what she thought. He could tell that she was afraid to go with the other two and maybe even afraid to go outside with the rest of the school. He looked at her. “Come on Letty, you hold my hand and we’ll go with Jason and Allison. You don’t have to go outside if you don’t want to, but if you do, I won’t leave you ever, so no body will hurt you.” “We’ll stay with you too.” Piped up Allison, she looked at Jason, “won’t we?” “Sure,” Jason said. “Come on guys, I have to pee, so the first stop is the bathrooms.” Allison and Letty giggled and Gus rolled his eyes. The four children set off for the tour of the school. “The boys bathroom is here and the girls bathroom is beside it.” Jason said and he ran inside. Gus looked at the girls. “I’m going in here too.” “We’ll meet you outside here at the water fountain.” Allison said and she took Letty’s hand, together they headed for the girls bathroom. Inside the girls were met with a phalanx of grade six girls, the kind who were already glued to any mirror they could find with the lipsticks stolen from the drug store. Both first graders scurried to the stalls where they each shut the door with a bang. “did you see that face?” one began. “Ewww gross” began another and the comments went on and on, each progressively more hurtful. Allison came out of her stall and washed her hands, but Letty hadn’t come out. She waited for a few minutes and knocked. “Letty, we have to go.” Allison ignored the comments from the other girls. “Go away” sobbed Letty. Allison glared at the girls by the mirror. She didn’t know what else to do so she ran outside and up to Gus and Jason. “There’s a bunch of girls in there saying bad things about Letty and she won’t come out of the toilet.” She gasped at the two boys. Gus’ eyes darkened with anger. He looked at the other two. “I’m going to go get her.” “You can’t it’s the girl’s bathroom.” Jason and Alison said as one. “The heck I can’t.” Gus turned his back on the others and he stomped into the girl’s washroom. Which immediately set up a chorus of indignant squeals from those inside. Gus looked around, only one stall had the door closed. “Shut you stupid cows” he growled as he walked over to the closed door. “Letty, you come on out now, I’m here. I told you I wouldn’t leave you.” “I’m telling on you, kid, you’re not supposed to be in here.” one of them began. “You do that, and while you’re at it, make sure that who ever you tell knows why I had to come in here.” The stall door opened a crack and Letty’s tearful face showed. “Come on Letty.” Gus took her hand. “Wash your hands and face, I’ll be right here.” He glared at the others again. Letty shook her head, she just wanted to leave, but Gus had other plans. He wet a paper towel and gently washed the tears away and then he took her hand and walked Letty out the door and past the other girls. “Your should be ashamed of yourself coming into the girl’s washroom.” Spit out the oldest of the girls. As he walked past he said to them. “I’m not ashamed of helping my friend out, are you all ashamed of what you did to make me have to do this?” he shook his head. “If you aren’t, you should be.” Justin was walking toward the washroom, his strides leaving an anxious Allison behind. Gus and Letty along with Jason, met him half way down the hall. “Gus, Letty, is there a problem?” Justin asked. Gus looked him in the eye. “No sir.” He said as he squeezed Letty’s hand gently. Letty, looking at Gus, not at Justin said. “No sir.” Justin looked at all of them. Allison had told him what had happened, but if this is how Letty and Gus wanted to play it, then he’d let them for now. Gus and his companions headed for the exit to the playground area. By the time they reached it, word had spread that the tall kid in grade one, would defend the scarred kid and that he wouldn’t back down for anything, including going into the no man’s land of the girl’s bathroom. A legend was beginning about the youngest Kinney both in the playground and in the staff room. Lunch time came and everyone headed to the lunch room. Gus looked at Jason and Allison and said. “You guys don’t have to sit with us if you don’t want to.” “No way,” said Jason. “You’re like the toughest kid in the school. I’m staying with you.” “Me too.” Allison smiled at the other three. “You guys are cool.” The four kids took their seats. “Do you have Barbies?” Allison asked. “Not hardly” Gus grinned. “I didn’t mean you.” Allison laughed, “I meant Letty.” “I have a Barbie.” Jason said, in a low voice. “Don’t tell anyone.” “You do?” Letty looked at him with interest. “Which one?” “Malibu Barbie, I make her clothes with scraps from my mom’s sewing.” “I have two Malibu Barbies.” Allison said. “But one of them keeps having her head fall off. I think my big brother wrecked her.” “I don’t have dolls, but I have a cat called Burt and I draw pictures.” “I have two Barbies and one Ken.” Letty said in a soft voice. “But I don’t have very many clothes for them.” “You guys could come to my house on Saturday and we could make some clothes for them.” Jason volunteered. “I’d show you how.” “I could draw the clothes, we could play design house.” Gus grinned. “I have the Barbie van; they could go on a trip.” Allison said. “I’ll ask my mom if I can come and if I can bring my Barbie Van, it’s pretty big.” The four new friends spent the next half hour eating their lunch and planning their Saturday. By the end of the thirty minutes, Letty was just as enthusiastic as the other three. When the time came to go outside and play they all went and sat under the spreading branches of the monkey tail tree where they continued to talk and learn about one another. Brian reached the school at two along with a contingent of other parents, mostly young women. He stood around, hands in his pockets to wait for Gus and Letty, for Letty’s mother had called and gratefully accepted his offer. He was surprised to see his ‘lone wolf’ son come out of the school talking animatedly with not only Letty, but two other children. “Hey daddy.” Gus called. He turned to his friends, “come and meet my daddy.” “Hey Gus, Letty, who are your friends?” Brian squatted down to be at the same height as the children. “This is Jason and Allison, can I go to Jason’s house on Saturday to play?” Gus asked all in one breath. “Well Gus, Jason will have to have his parents call me and we’ll talk about it.” “Jason.” A pretty young blonde woman came up to the group. “Hi Mom, this is Gus and Letty and Gus’s Dad.” “Hi, I’m Brian Kinney.” Brian offered. “My name is Susie.” Said Jason’s mother. “Can Letty, Gus and Allison come over and play on Saturday afternoon. We’re going to play Barbie designer.” Brian’s eyebrows went up at that, but he didn’t say a word. “If it’s alright with the other parents, I don’t see why not,” Susie said. “If you are going to be here tomorrow, I’ll bring my address and phone number with me.” “Alright,” Brian said. He was rapidly thinking he was going to have to print up business cards with their address and phone number because of all of Gus’ activities. “Letty, you can come with us, your mommy will pick you up at our house after work.” He smiled at the small girl. “Justin told us already.” Gus said. He had Letty’s hand and he began to walk down the sidewalk toward their house. “Bye Allison and Jason” he said turning once to wave as they walked down the street. “I guess that’s my cue to leave.” Brian said. “It was nice to have met you.” He looked down at the children “All of you.” He’d been hoping to catch a glimpse of a certain blond Vice Principal, but it wasn’t going to happen. Brian sighed inwardly; he was going to have to wait until dinnertime. “Thank you so much Brian.” Letty’s mother said with tears in her eyes. Letty had run out to the car after giving Gus a quick hug, her face wreathed in smiles. “It’s the first time I’ve heard her laugh, since, since” the young woman couldn’t get the words out. “Don’t you worry about it, Letty is a beautiful little girl and Gus and I are happy to have her over.” Brian said honestly he smiled at the young woman and waved at Letty who was in the car. “I’ll see you tomorrow’ in fact you drop Letty off here and she can walk to school with Gus and I, that way you don’t have to worry about being late for work.” “Thank you again Brian.” Brian closed the door and went to look for Gus. “Come on Sonny Boy, we need to make a quick trip to the market to pick something up for supper.” “I thought Justin was making supper.” Gus said, but he pulled his jacket off of the hook on the back of the door. “He is, but I wanted to get some fresh flowers for him.” “You can’t, he’s allergic, remember.” Gus said. “That’s right, okay Sonny Boy, do you have any ideas what to get a guy who is allergic to flowers.” “What about cookie flowers?” Gus asked. “Good idea, but I don’t know where I’d get something like that.” “We can make them.” Gus ran into the kitchen. “You can make the sticky icing. We can stick them on my Popsicle sticks from the craft box.” Brian looked at his enthusiastic child. “It wasn’t quite what I had in mind Gus.” “Is this a date daddy?” Gus asked. “No, it’s a dinner invitation.” “Then let’s give cookie flowers.” Gus declared. He had pulled a chair up to the counter and was reaching for the package of chocolate chip cookies Brian had stashed in the cupboard. Resigned to his fate, Brian assembled the ingredients to make the icing to use as glue. Soon they had half a dozen ‘flowers’ ready on a tray. “Can I carry them daddy?” Gus asked. “Are you sure?” “They aren’t heavy.” “Okay, but don’t trip. The two Kinney men made their way up the long driveway to Justin’s house and a new adventure for both of them.