M is for Monkey
Justin pushed back the loft door, hearing something unusual from inside. He made a face as he wondered if Brian had a trick in there. He hoped not, but Brian was Brian, and probably always would be. He stepped inside and looked around. He didn't see anybody. Maybe they were in the bedroom.
Justin turned around to close the door when he heard that sound again. It wasn't exactly a grunt, but close. That did not bode well. However, it wasn't coming from the bedroom, it was coming from the alcove.
Quietly Justin slid the door closed making as little noise as he could.
He could hear what sounded like a weird kind of "Woof, woof, woof." It didn't really sound like a dog, but it was sort of familiar nonetheless.
Justin set his bag of groceries on the counter and peered around into the alcove, dreading what he might see there. Then he burst out laughing.
Brian glared at him as he hopped around with his hands up almost in his armpits, making the noises that Justin had heard.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Justin demanded.
Brian frowned and nodded towards the chaise longue.
"Oh, sorry for the bad language," Justin apologized as he saw Gus sitting on the chaise. "I didn't know you were going to be here, Gus."
"Mama had to go to work and Mommy had to go to the dentist. She broke a piece off her tooth," Gus said knowledgeably.
"Oh," Justin responded. "I hope she's okay."
"She'll be just fine," Brian stated. "Won't she, Gus?"
"Yep," Gus agreed.
Justin smiled. "So what the heck were you doing when I came in?" Justin asked.
"Gus wanted to go to the zoo and see the monkeys," Brian explained.
"I love monkeys," Gus said.
"So, you were the next best thing?" Justin asked his partner.
"You do what you have to do," Brian said with a smirk.
"Why didn't you just take him to the zoo?" Justin asked.
"I was waiting for you."
Justin snorted. "I bet."
"Will you take us to the zoo?" Gus pleaded. "Please? Daddy said you would."
Justin gave Brian a look. "Let me put the groceries away, and then we can go the zoo," Justin said with a gentle smile at the little boy.
"Yay!" Gus reacted. "More monkey, Daddy," Gus ordered as Justin went to unload the grocery bag.
Justin watched his partner hop around and make monkey noises until Gus decided to join him. They made quite a pair of monkeys. Justin couldn't believe how different the reality was from what he had been expecting when he first pulled back the loft door and heard those noises.
"More monkey, Daddy," Gus called when Brian slowed down.
A trip to the zoo with his boys suddenly seemed like a great idea, Justin decided.
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