Happy Mother's Day

Brian and Michael were walking out of the building after school. They had been friends for almost two years now. Michael was obviously infatuated with Brian, enough that even Brian knew it, but he tried to make sure that Michael knew that they were just friends and that was it.

“So, you wanna come over?” Michael asked.

“Can’t, I gotta work,” Brian said, not looking at his friend.

“But you’ve worked every night this week!” Michael whined.

“I need the extra hours. I’m saving up for something.”

'“What?” Michael asked, pouting.

“Does it really matter?” Brian questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“No, I guess not. But, you’ll come over tomorrow night, right?”

“I’m working.”

“Well, when won’t you be working?” It was obvious that Michael was not happy.

“By the end of next week I should have enough to get what I’m saving up for, then I’m all yours.”

“Next week?! But Brian….” Michael started.

“Drop it, Mikey. This is important, okay?” Brian said. Michael sighed but nodded.

“Fine.”

As he’d done every Mother’s Day since he’d learned how to cook, Michael got up early and started to make breakfast. The only thing he really knew how to make was pancakes, but Debbie never seemed to mind. Luckily the owner of the Liberty Diner was nice enough to give her Mother’s Day off since she was a single mother. That, and she was the only actual mother that worked at the diner, so finding someone to fill in for her wasn't hard. He had just finished putting the last pancake on the plate when Debbie came down. She smiled and walked over to Michael, kissing his cheek.

“Happy Mother’s Day,” Michael said with a smile.

“Thank you, sweetie.” She took a look at the plate of pancakes. A couple of them were burned and they were all misshapen, but Michael made them himself and she knew that at the very least they tasted good. She smiled and took a seat. About halfway through breakfast, the doorbell rang.

“Who could that be?” Debbie asked.

“I don’t know,” Michael said as he got up to go answer the door. He was more than a little surprised to see Brian on the other side. He was wearing a suit, having obviously just come from church.

“Brian, I can’t hang out today,” Michael said quietly.

“That’s okay; I’m not here to see you,” he said as he gently pushed Michael out of the way. He walked over to the table and placed a small, neatly wrapped box in front of Debbie.

“What’s this?” she asked as she looked at Brian.

“Well, unless I’m mistaken, today is Mother’s Day,” Brian replied with a smirk.

“Yes…..but….” Debbie said.

“So my guess would be that it's a Mother’s Day gift.”

“Smart ass,” she said as she started to unwrap the gift. The paper was removed to reveal a burgundy velvet box the size of a ring box. Debbie immediately recognized it as coming from a jewelry store she often passed. She opened the box and gasped. Inside was a simple, yet beautiful necklace. It was an Austrian crystal heart about a half an inch in diameter on a simple gold chain. Debbie had been drooling over that necklace since it first appeared in the window display. She looked up at Brian. “Oh, sweetie. This is beautiful. Thank you.” She stood and hugged him and kissed his cheek.

“I remembered you liked it,” he said quietly.

“But how did you afford this?”

“I worked a bunch of extra hours and I saved up my money.” Brian shrugged.

“Christ, if this is what you got for me, what did you get for your mom?” she asked. Brian refused to meet her gaze after that question.

“I…um….didn’t get her anything.” It was almost inaudible.

“But…..why?” She was completely shocked. Brian looked up at her and she was amazed to see unshed tears forming in his eyes.

“I figured that Mother’s Day gifts should only be given to women that actually wanted to be mothers in the first place,” he said. He looked at a watch that wasn’t on his wrist. “Um…I better go.” Brian then took off before Debbie could say a word. She looked at Michael questioningly and he only shrugged. Brian hadn’t told either of them about his home life yet.

20 Years Later

Justin was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on lunch while Brian set the table. He put on some soft music that he knew Jennifer would enjoy, though Debbie would probably hate it. To counterbalance that, there was a large bouquet of Debbie's favorite flowers in the middle of the table. He and Justin invited the two women over for a Mother’s Day lunch. It was originally supposed to be a dinner but since Debbie made plans to have dinner with Ben and Michael, Brian moved it to lunch. He had just finished with the last place setting when there was a knock on the door.

“I got it,” Brian said as Justin started to head toward the door. The blond went back to cooking as Brian moved to answer it. He smiled when he opened the door and saw Debbie on the other side. He kissed her cheek and she kissed his before he moved out of the way. Being that it was May it was warm enough that she wasn’t wearing a jacket. When she moved into the loft, Brian saw a reflection of light from around her neck and took a closer look, seeing a crystal heart on a gold chain. Debbie noticed that Brian was staring at her.

“What?” she asked.

“Is that the necklace I bought you?” he questioned. She smiled and nodded.

“Yes, it is.”

“How on earth did you keep track of that thing for twenty years?” Brian asked with a raised eyebrow. Justin had come over to kiss Debbie’s cheek and he looked at the necklace, smiling before going back to cooking.

“Simple,” she said with a smile. “I wear it every Mother’s Day.”

“Really?” Brian asked.

“Really.” Debbie patted his cheek before moving a little further into the loft.

Brian rubbed his chin as he tried to quell the sudden surge of emotion that came over him. He cleared his throat. “Um…..lunch is almost ready and we’re just waiting for Jennifer, so why don’t you have a seat?” he asked.

Justin couldn’t help but smirk. He knew how much that had touched Brian just by his initial reaction. Just as Justin was finishing up preparing the meal, there was another knock on the door. Brian once again went over to get it. He opened the door and there stood Jennifer.

“Hi, sorry I’m late,” she said. Brian moved aside to let her in.

“That’s okay; Justin was taking so long to cook the food that you actually got here just in time,” Brian said with a smirk, earning him a glare from the blond. Brian and Jennifer both laughed. The two men moved out to the table and held out the chairs for the women. Once they were seated, Justin put the food on the table while Brian poured the wine.

“I still don’t understand why you boys invited me,” Debbie said as Brian was filling her glass.

“Yes you do, mom.”Brian leaned down and kissed her cheek before moving on. Debbie smiled at him; her eyes glistening with unshed tears. She grabbed her napkin and dabbed at her eyes.

“You’re gonna make my mascara run,” she said and everyone laughed. They sat down to a lovely meal of fettuccini alfredo with grilled chicken.

“Justin, sweetie, this looks wonderful,” Jennifer said as she placed her napkin on her lap.

“Thanks.” Justin beamed. Both women took a bite.

“And it tastes fucking terrific,” Debbie commented after swallowing, causing Justin to blush. As they ate they chatted about various things. Jennifer relayed the latest news on Molly. Brian actually told a couple of very cute stories about Gus, one of which involved referring to Jennifer as gamma. After that story it was Jennifer’s turn to tear up. They had just finished the meal and Brian was about to offer dessert when there was a knock at the door. All four exchanged confused looks, then Brian got up to answer it.

“I’m amazed you're home since you didn’t bother to call me,” came Joan Kinney’s voice as she pushed past Brian into the loft.

He stood there staring at her in shock. “What are you doing here?” he ground out.

“Well, it is Mother’s Day and I'm your mother,” she commented snidely.

“I’m amazed you're willing to admit that, but as you can see, I have guests so I would appreciate it if you would leave.”

“You have….” Joan looked over at the table and saw the other three sitting there. She locked eyes with Debbie for a moment, getting a glare from the other woman, then turned to her son. “You’re celebrating Mother’s Day with her?” she asked, the last word was meant as an insult.

“Yes, I am.” Brian looked Joan in the eye.

“But….why?” Joan had an obvious look of disgust on her face. This was the absolute last straw for Brian. He was sick of taking Joan’s abuse and then having her act like it had never happened.

“Maybe because of the fact that she has been ten times the mother that you could ever hope to be. She’s loved me, and taken care of me, and been there for me. She gave me a safe place to get away from Jack. She’s treated me like I was her son, which is more than can be said about you. But most of all, she doesn’t give a flying fuck that I’m a fag. Hell, even when Jennifer hated me she was more of a mother to me than you’ve ever been.”

“Excuse me?” Joan said in a hurt tone.

“You know…every time Michael said he wished he had a different mother, I wished that I had his. A mother that loved me enough to worry about me. To give me a curfew. A mother that actually wanted me in the first place. He may have been occasionally embarrassed that Debbie was his mother, but my entire fucking life I have been nothing but ashamed that you were mine.”

Joan was absolutely speechless. She couldn’t believe that Brian was saying the things he’d just said. He looked her right in the eye.

“Now, get the fuck out of my loft and stay the fuck out of my life.” His voiced wavered slightly, the last word almost not coming out. He had to roll his lips into his mouth to keep his bottom lip from quivering. The last thing he wanted was for Joan Kinney to see his pain. She turned and stormed out of the loft. As she waited for the elevator, Brian looked at her. “You might as well forget that I was ever born, since you never wanted me to begin with.” He then slammed the door, leaning his forehead against it for a minute as he tried to compose himself. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before going and rejoining the others.

They all sat there looking at him in silence. Debbie could tell that Brian was hurting and she knew that he’d try to hide it. Even Jennifer could see the pain in Brian’s eyes. She sighed inwardly for the man that she had come to at the very least respect. It had taken a while but she finally accepted Brian and Justin’s relationship. Brian rested his elbow on the table and rubbed his forehead. Justin reached over and put a hand on the older man’s back.

“You okay?” he asked.

Brian sat back and put on the forced smile that both Justin and Debbie had seen on more than one occasion. “Just fine,” he said.

“That’s a load of bullshit if ever I’ve heard one,” Debbie commented.

“I said I’m fine.” Brian looked at Debbie for a minute, then looked at Justin. “Could you get the dessert please?”

“Um…sure…” the blond said. “Mom, could you help me?” he asked as he stood. Jennifer just nodded and got up as well. The two went into the kitchen, leaving Brian and Debbie alone at the table. Debbie moved her chair closer to Brian’s and leaned in close.

“Brian, as proud as I am that you finally grew the balls to tell that woman off, I know how much it had to hurt. And don’t tell me that you don’t give a shit, I know you too well,” she added when he started to protest. “You’re just like every other person on this planet, craving the love and approval of your parents. The only problem is you ended up with a set of parents too stupid to realize what a wonderful son they had.” She moved some hair off his forehead and he sighed.

“She never even wanted me to begin with, reminded me of it every fucking day and then expects me to want to celebrate the fact that she’s my mother?” He rolled his eyes.

“Brian, let me tell you a little something,” Debbie said. Brian looked at her. “Never in my entire life have I ever been thankful for someone to be so completely devoted to their religion as I have that Joan was too afraid of going to hell to get an abortion.” She kissed his cheek and smiled. Brian smiled back, sniffling. He once again had to clear his throat.

“Thanks,” he said before kissing her cheek. When it was obvious that the two were done talking, Justin and Jennifer came back to the table, chocolate cake on plates for everyone.

“This looks delicious,” Debbie said. Brian smirked.

“The one thing my mom was actually good for.” When the two women looked at him confused, he smiled. “She may have been a horrible mother but her recipe for chocolate chocolate chip cake is fucking fantastic,” he said with a laugh.

“Brian, for what it’s worth, I never hated you,” Jennifer admitted.

“I know. I was just trying to get a point across to her, that’s all,” he said with a sigh. “You know, it’s a sad day when you like your mother-in-law more than you like your own mother.” He laughed and they all joined in.

The rest of the day was spent without even a mention of Joan Kinney.

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