Watch What You Say

Brian had a hard day at work and wanted to just go home and take a nap before going out with the guys. He laughed slightly to himself when he thought about the fact that he was actually going to take a nap. If anyone asked him, he would have said he was just going to lie down for a bit, but he admitted to himself that it was a nap. This made him sigh slightly.

"When did I get so old that I need a nap?" he said softly before he opened the loft door. When he did, he dropped everything. The place was a mess. There were toys on the floor, the TV was on some stupid kid's TV show, and there were little juice boxes everywhere. Brian almost tripped over some little toy cars as he walked in and started looking around. Suddenly, he heard something in the bedroom.

"No, Gus, not on the duvet!" That was obviously Justin's voice. Brian's eyes went wide as he wondered what his son was doing to his $400 duvet. Brian ran into the bedroom and saw Gus pouring the remaining drops of juice from his latest box in the middle of the bed.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Brian yelled. Gus stopped and looked at his father, his bottom lip quivering. Justin stopped dead in his tracks.

"You weren't supposed to be home for another hour."

"The meeting ended early," Brian said. He stormed off into the bathroom and got a towel, then picked up Gus and put him on the floor, setting the towel over the wet spot on the duvet. Rather than take his anger out on Gus, he decided to turn it on Justin.

"Why is he here and what the fuck was he doing on my bed with juice?!"

"He's here because the babysitter is sick and I tried to keep him off the bed, but I can't keep my eyes on him at all times. I had to piss and when I came back, he was in the middle of the bed. I'm sorry."

"Well, at least you have a valid excuse. I don't expect you to take Gus into the bathroom with you when you have to take a piss. And I guess this'll wash." Brian paused a minute, then smirked. "Again." He laughed slightly when Justin blushed, then turned to Gus. "Sonny boy, you know that you're not supposed to be on the bed unless it's nap time." Brian knelt down so he could be closer to Gus' level. Even though Gus was not quite three years old, he was taller than most of the kids his age. Gus smiled slightly.

"Sowwy, dada." He wrapped his little arms around Brian's neck and Brian couldn't help but smile.

"It's okay, sonny boy. Just don't do it again. Now, why don't you go watch TV while Justin helps me clean this up?"

Gus smiled and then ran into the living room and sat down on the couch. Brian grunted as he got to his feet again.

"Getting old?" Justin smirked.

"Fuck you," Brian replied, then started to clean up the duvet. He froze dead in his tracks when he heard a little voice from the doorway.

"Fuck you," Gus said with a smile, looking directly at Justin as he said it. Brian looked at Gus, then at Justin. The younger man almost couldn't contain his laughter.

"Lindsay is going to kill you. You know that kids will say anything. And kids Gus' age, when they find a word they like, they say it over and over and over again."

"Fuck you," Gus said again almost to prove Justin's point.

"Maybe if we let him say it until Linds shows up, he'll get tired of it before he goes home."

"Maybe," Justin agreed. "But I doubt it." Then he laughed.

"Fuck you," Gus said again. Brian shook his head.

"Sonny boy, don't say that. That's bad."

"Dada say it," Gus argued. Justin laughed even harder. Brian glared at him, then walked over and once again knelt down to look at Gus.

"Well, you see, sonny boy, dada isn't always a good person. So don't do everything I do. It'll get you in trouble if you do. Mama and mommy will be very sad if you go home and say that. You don't want to make them sad, do you?" Brian hated guilt trips more than anything. He hated to be on the giving end of one more than he hated being on the receiving end, but he hoped that it would work. He smiled slightly when Gus shook his head.

"Good, so you're not gonna say that anymore, right?"

Gus smiled at his father. "Fuck you." He giggled, then took off running. Justin was still laughing.

"He's certainly your son," Justin commented. Brian growled as he stood.

"You definitely aren't getting any anytime soon." Then Brian went after Gus.

*****

It was almost nine when Lindsay and Melanie finally arrived to pick up Gus. Brian was thankful that the boy was sound asleep. He handed Gus to Lindsay and the diaper bag to Melanie, then kissed Gus on the head before telling them all goodbye.

"Feel free to drop him off anytime," Justin said.

"Yeah, we had fun today," Brian admitted. Melanie looked at him like he had a third eye. "What?"

"Did you just say you had fun?"

Brian rolled his eyes. "Yes, I actually enjoyed having my son around. Forgive me." His tone was thick with sarcasm.

"Okay, you two, that's enough. We need to get Gus home." Just then Gus stirred and started to wake and Brian's heart started pounding. He kept chanting in his head, please don't say it, please don't say it.

"Hey sweetie," Melanie said. "Did you have fun with Dada and Justin?" She smiled at Gus.

Gus looked at her sleepily for a minute. "Fuck you," he said, then laid his head back down on Lindsay's shoulder, going back to sleep. Justin was almost literally rolling on the floor and Brian was trying very hard not to laugh as both women gave him a dirty look. He held up his hands in surrender.

"I swear he didn't pick that up intentionally. I didn't sit him down and teach it to him. I told him not to say it. But he picked it up."

Both women were still glaring at him when Justin chimed in.

"Brian thought that Gus was in the other room watching TV. He had no idea that Gus was standing in the doorway listening. I made a crack about Brian's age and since he didn't know Gus was right there, he didn't hold back. It's not his fault, really."

"You have to admit that it is kind of funny though, right?" Brian said. Lindsay's expression was softening, but Melanie was still glaring. "Look, Mel. I know that you don't like me, and I don't really like you all that much, but I would never, ever teach Gus to say 'fuck you' to you. I told him that it would make you sad if he said it. I tried everything I could to keep him from saying it. If you don't want to believe me, that's up to you, but I swear I didn't teach that to him."

"It was kind of funny," Lindsay chimed in. "And you know that he would have picked it up eventually. If not from one of us, then from someone at school. Might as well pick it up from his father."

"Well, you've got a point," Melanie said. "It just made me realize how much like you Gus really is," she said to Brian. He smiled slightly. "He even looks just like you. Which is really getting on my nerves. I mean, one Brian Kinney is bad enough, sooner or later we're going to have to deal with two."

"Don't worry, I'm sure there are enough guys to go around," Brian smirked.

"If Gus isn't straight," Justin said. That made everyone laugh. The noise woke Gus who whined, then went back to sleep when everyone was quiet.

"So, can we watch Gus again?" Justin asked.

"Yeah, that'll be fine. Just make sure you watch what you say when you're around him," Melanie commented as she headed for the door. Lindsay began to follow.

"Would you rather he pick that stuff up on the playground at school?" Brian asked.

"I would rather he not pick it up at all, but since he's your son, it's bound to happen." Melanie gave Brian a sarcastic smile just before shutting the door to the loft. Brian walked over and locked it, then looked at Justin.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Justin asked.

"Fuck you." Brian smirked as he said the words slowly, then started stripping on his way to the bedroom, Justin eagerly in tow.

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