Brian was enjoying a leisurely breakfast in the loft as Justin fiddled around at the stove.
“Hey, Taylor,” Brian told him, “I got this list of most-wanted Christmas toys from the internet. I wonder if Gus wants any of them. If he does, you better go out and get them before they’re all sold out.”
“If Gus wanted any of them, Mr. Kinney,” Justin laughed, “I’d already have been out and got them. You can’t wait forever on these things and you have a tendency sometimes to be behind the curve, Bri.”
“So do we already have Gus’ gifts all bought and wrapped and ribboned?” Brian complained. “And me not knowing anything about it.”
“Well we do have some of those all right,” Justin was
still laughing. “But you don’t know what they are because every time I try to
tell you, you change the subject.”
“And it bothers you that I change the subject?” Brian laughed too.
“Not usually, Bri,” Justin admitted. “Considering what you usually change the subject to ….”
“I guess you’re at your most irresistible when you’re talking about presents for Gus, Sweetheart,” Brian allowed.
“Well then, Honey, I’m gonna be at my most irresistible right now,” Justin informed him. “But I don’t want you to change the subject now because this is important ….”
“So the honeymoon is finally over, I guess,” Brian said.
“Gus really only wants one thing for Christmas, Bri,”
Justin ignored Brian’s statement – not without a degree of regret. “He wants a
tree house in the back yard. There’s a perfect tree there for it and …..”
“Linz and Melanie won’t like that,” Brian assumed. “They’re like – safety
freaks.”
“Which is exactly why Gus intends to appeal to you, BK,” Justin told him. “He
has a friend, Victor, who has a tree house and Gus goes up there pretty often –
but I’m not sure how much about that Mel and Linz know. I don’t think Gus tells
them everything.”
“Not like he tells you, I bet. Well what is our position going to be on the tree house, Baby?” Brian wondered. “Somehow I don’t think that position is gonna be my decision at all – and I don’t know all that much about tree houses either ….”
“Well I like – had a tree house in my back yard when I was a kid, Bri,” Justin revealed, “and I never fell out of it – and I loved it. Mollie wasn’t allowed to go into it though. She probably would have fallen out.”
“You never told me about having a tree house, Taylor,”
Brian accused him. “Keeping secrets. Like – I never had any tree house but me
and Mikey climbed a lot of trees in our days – and we fell out of them lots of
times too – but we never got hurt.”
“Landed on your heads, I guess,” Justin laughed.
“Probably, JT,” Brian agreed. “But I think I know a guy who would be able to build us a pretty safe custom tree house – we wouldn’t want any old commercial tree house for Gus. So are we on Gus’ side in this battle?”
“We are,” Justin decided. “If you promise to stay out of whatever tree house we end up with. I don’t want you falling out. Gus will be careful but ….”
“You don’t trust me as much as you trust Gus?” Brian complained.
“Oh I trust you all right, Kinney,” Justin told him.
“But I bet Mikey would be in that tree house with you sometimes and lead you
astray.”
“Yeah, he might,” Brian conceded. “OK, you win. You can tell Mel and Linz that
we think the tree house is a good idea.”
“Actually you might have to do that yourself, Bri,” Justin warned him. “When you get to the office, I think you’ll find that you have a lunch engagement with Mel and Lindsay at 1:30. Not that I know that it’s even about the tree house. They called Cynthia and …..”
“You are supposed to be so damn concerned about my safety, JT,” Brian grouched, “and you’re willing to let me face those barracudas by myself?”
“You’ll handle them well, Brian,” Justin smiled assurance. “Gus will get his tree house and it will be all because of you. You can do it. I have confidence …..”
“Yeah,” Brian warmed to the task. “I think I can do it, Babe. I have a plan. It’s like – sure to work.”
“That’s great, Brian,” Justin enthused. “What are you gonna do?”
“I’m gonna tell them that if they don’t agree to the tree house today,” Brian told him, “they’re gonna have to have lunch with you tomorrow.”
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