If It Fits - 23. Chapter 23

October 3, 1995

“This must be quite a shock to you,” I said to Brian. My heart went out to the poor guy.

“It certainly wasn't what I expected when I woke up this morning,” he said. “I thought I'd have an interview, get shot down, and be driving back to Pennsylvania.”

“Instead you have a new job, a new half-brother, and a new family,” Brad said, and put his arm on Brian's shoulder affectionately. It was a remarkably touching gesture, and I saw Brian's eyes get watery. He didn't cry though. So much like JP.

“And that makes him your uncle,” I said to Brad. That concept seemed particularly funny to me, less so to the others. Oh well. Humor doesn't always work.

“I need to explain this at dinner,” JP said.

“How exciting! I love those dramatic dinners!” I teased. JP glared at me but I just smiled at him. “JP, they will be fine with this. It will be a shock, but they will be fine with it.”

“That I hid this from everyone for thirty years?” JP asked.

“That's a little annoying,” Brad said. “You could have told me.”

“I could have, and I would have, when I was dead. A cowardly way to do it,” JP said, totally dejected. He hadn't been this self-deprecating since Jeff died. “I think, Brian, that the karma gods have sent you here to force me to right a wrong.”

“I will make sure that everyone is at dinner tonight,” I told JP. “Including you,” I said to Brian.

“I'm not sure. Do you think that's a good idea?” he asked nervously.

So much turmoil in this situation, so much angst, yet we kept coming back to this young man who must be experiencing emotions way beyond ours. JP jumped in like the champ he always was in these situations. “You will be there,” he said firmly.

“Alright,” Brian acquiesced.

“And you will come stay with us. You are family. There is no need for you to stay with your friends,” I said.

“Are you sure you have room for me? I don't want to be an inconvenience,” Brian said.

I laughed. “Brian, room is one thing we have plenty of.”

“It would be kind of nice not to sleep on their couch,” he said with a shy smile.

“You're sleeping on someone's couch?” Brad asked. “That sucks.”

“Do me a favor. Call Eloise and tell her to clear my schedule for the rest of the day,” I asked, changing the subject.

“You got it boss,” he said with a smile, then took my cell phone and wandered off to make the call.

“He is one of us,” I said to JP and Brad firmly.

“I can't believe you kept this secret for so long,” Brad whined. That pissed me off.

“Did you not hear me?!” I almost yelled. “We can deal with that later. We're whining about who knew what, and when they knew it, and this young man is going through some major trauma. A new brother, a new family, when this morning he was a poor orphan?!”

“Sounds a bit like how you were when you got to Claremont,” JP said profoundly. I just stared at him. It was exactly what it was like for me, except at least he spoke English. “So how do we do this Stef?”

“Well, the first thing we will not do is chide him about his manners and try to explain the doctrine of noblesse oblige,” I said to JP, teasing him. He smiled shyly at me, remembering those days so long ago. “I think it's actually very easy. We must embrace him.” Brad and JP just nodded.

Brian came back and sat down, and then we finally ate. “It's a little weird thinking of you as my uncle,” Brad said.

“I know. You're older than me, and you're way older than me,” Brian said, directing that last comment to JP. I laughed at that and JP pretended to be irritated.

“Apparently our father was quite active into his old age,” JP said calmly.

“I'm hoping that is an inherited trait,” I teased. JP rolled his eyes, and then looked at his watch.

“I have to go. I have a class in 20 minutes. I will see you at home tonight,” he said to Brian. “You will be welcome.”

“Thanks, JP,” he said. JP stood up and leaned over to kiss me, and then he was gone.

“I suppose you will need some new clothes,” I told him. “We should go shopping.”

“I can't afford that,” Brian said nervously.

“Ah, but I can,” I told him. “You must let me spoil my new nephew a bit.”

“Nephew?” he asked.

“It is a convenient point of reference. I consider all of JP's kids as my nephews, and even though you are technically his brother, it seems appropriate,” I said philosophically. Putting him at JP's level, generationally, seemed absurd.

“Uncle Stef,” Brian said, smiling.

“That is correct,” I told him.

“I think you should let Claire take him shopping,” Brad said.

“You think her taste is better than mine?” I challenged.

“I'm not jumping into that debate,” Brad told me. “I just think it would be something they could do together.”

How terribly insightful of Brad. “You may be right. I will have to give you some time off to spend with Claire, shopping.” I paid the bill and we headed out of the restaurant. I saw the limo and had a pretty bold idea.

“You know, if I cannot spoil you with clothes, perhaps I can do something else,” I told him.

“Is this when we have sex?” he teased.

“No. Not yet,” I said seriously, but couldn't hide my giggle. “I am concerned about you making it in to work.”

“Uh oh. Here we go,” Brad said, but with a smile.

“I'm reliable. I really am,” Brian insisted emphatically.

“You are, but your car is not,” I told him.

“That's true. I figured I'd get a new one once I updated my wardrobe and found a place to live,” he said, thinking to himself.

“Well those two issues are going to be taken care of,” I said, “so we must tackle the car. What do you want?”

“You're going to help me get a car?” he asked, nervously smiling.

“No, I am going to buy you one. What do you want?” I asked. He just stared at me, clearly overwhelmed.

“I don’t really know. I feel like I just won the lottery,” he said.

“Well you kind of did,” Brad said. The limo stopped in front of the office and he made to get out.

I handed Brad my car keys. “I will ride home with Brian. You can drive my car home, no?”

“Tough duty,” Brad said with a grin. “You should have him buy you one of these.”

“A Porsche?” Brian asked, shocked.

“If you want,” I told him. “I will see you at home tonight,” I told Brad as he climbed out of the limo. “Shall we go get your things?” Rafael drove us to an apartment complex in Sunnyvale.

“I don't have much stuff. I can get it,” Brian said nervously. He clearly was embarrassed about where he was staying.

“I will help you,” Rafael said. Brian looked at him, and seemed to decide that the chauffeur was alright.

“Thanks,” he said.

“Then I will sit here and make phone calls,” I announced, and took out my phone and dialed Claire.

She answered right away, of course. “Stef! What a pleasant surprise! Do you need help shopping?”

“As a matter of fact, I may need your help, but that is not why I called.”

“Oh?” she asked, catching the seriousness in my voice.

“I'm calling to invite you to dinner at Escorial tonight,” I said.

“Well Jack and I have plans. There's some charity event at the hospital that we're supposed to go to,” she said somewhat plaintively.

“This is important,” I told her.

“How important?” she asked suspiciously.

“Very important. You need to be there,” I told her.

“You're scaring me,” Claire said nervously. She was probably remembering past dinners, like the one where JP told us he was HIV positive, and the one a few months later when he told us it was a mistake and that he was negative.

“You should not be afraid. No one is dying. But you must be there,” I asserted.

“Must?” she challenged. I could see her eyebrows rise in my mind. And her playful expression.

“Must,” I said firmly.

“I suppose calling Brad to try and find out what this is all about would be pointless?” she asked.

“I suppose it would,” I said.

She sighed. “Jack and I will see you at 7. Will Ace be there?”

“He will,” I said, although I hadn't called him yet. I did that as soon as I hung up with Claire. He was easy though. He and Cass lived there.

I noticed that Rafael and Brian were still lugging stuff out so I called Isidore.

“Stefan, you are calling in the middle of the day, you must want something,” she said.

“I always want something,” I said, flirting. Then I got serious. “You need to be at dinner tonight,” I told her. “And you need to let Maria know that Jack, Claire, and Brad will be there as well.”

“This sounds important.”

“You do not have to be there,” I teased. “Go ahead. Miss all the drama.”

“Drama?” she asked, and then laughed. “I'll be there. Perhaps you are pregnant?” She was so funny.

“Alas, after so many years of trying I should be,” I teased back. “But you will want to make sure you are there.”

“I would not miss it for the world. Although what poor Frank will think, I cannot imagine,” she joked. Frank was a bit too stolid at times.

I looked up to see Brian looking at me nervously. “I have to go,” I told her, and gave him my attention.

“My friends want to meet you. Is that alright?” he asked.

“Certainly!” I said, and followed him into their apartment. There were two guys sitting there looking at Brian suspiciously. They were typical college guys, hats on backwards, looking slightly unkempt. And cute.

“Hello,” I said. “I am Stefan Schluter.”

“You're Stefan Schluter?” asked the cute redhead. “You're serious?”

“Do you require identification?” I teased.

“No,” the redhead said, embarrassed, and jumped up to shake my hand. “I'm Chris Hobbs, but people call me Rusty because of my hair. That's Danny,” he said, pointing at the blond who sat there like a blob.

“Well it is nice to meet you Rusty,” I said. “And Danny,” I added to the lump of a guy who said nothing.

“No one is going to believe that one of the richest men in California was here in our apartment,” he said.

I looked around at their décor. “No, you are probably right. How long has Brian been staying with you?”

“For five months,” Rusty said, then looked at Brian, “Rent free.” Brian looked embarrassed, even though Rusty was clearly joking around with him.

“How much is your rent?” I asked.

“900 bucks a month,” Rusty said. “But I was just giving him a bad time. He's our friend. Brian doesn't owe us anything.”

“Perhaps,” I said, pulling my checkbook out of my jacket, “but I do not want him to have any debts.” I wrote them a check, enough to pay their rent and more. Rusty took it and just stared at me. “Now, the next time we throw a party, you must come visit me at my house.”

“Sure,” he said. “Thanks a lot Mr. Schluter. You just solved our financial aid problem for next semester.”

“Glad to help. And now we must go. Take care gentlemen,” I said and then we were off.

“How much money did you give them?” Brian asked.

“$10,000,” I told him.

“Wow. That was really nice of you,” he said.

“They did you a favor when you were down on your luck. That's good karma. It just came back to them. The redhead is cute.”

“And very straight,” Brian said playfully. “Unless he's drunk, then he all but begs me to blow him.”

I laughed at that. “So do you have a boyfriend?”

“Not anymore,” he said sadly. “We broke up in June after graduation, when he moved home to New York.”

“Well, we have done the new house, new job, now we will do the new car. We will save the new boyfriend for later,” I teased. “So what do you want?”

“Another Toyota. That thing lasted forever,” he said, caving to the inevitable.

“Rafael, do you think you could find us a Toyota dealer?” I asked him in Spanish.

“Of course,” he said cheerfully. I caught his eye and winked at him, remembering those days almost 20 years ago when I'd taken care of his more carnal needs.

It was a typical car dealer, with annoying salespeople. “I should just get a small car. That would be practical,” Brian said.

“I want to look around first,” I said. Brian looked at the cars, but he migrated toward the trucks, the SUVs specifically. Meanwhile the sales guy cornered me and yammered on, assuming that I was buying something for my son. They'd seen the limo drive up, so at least they didn't give me the financing spiel.

“That one he's looking at, what is that one?” I asked.

“That's the new 4Runner. It's the new model, a '96. They're hot, and brand new. We only have two here,” he said. “That one on the floor, it's loaded. Got the new V-6 engine, the 3.4 liter, up from last year's 3.0. The one in back's got the four cylinder, still powerful, but not as much as this one.”

I walked over to Brian with the salesman following me like a dog that wanted to hump my leg. “I think you should get this one,” I said.

“It's pretty nice isn't it?” he said, lusting after this car like I lusted after hot men. “But it's too expensive. A Corolla, that will do just fine.”

“Well we have a bunch of those out front,” the salesman said helpfully.

“We will take this one,” I said. “How long until it is ready?” The salesman and Brian just gaped at me.

“Well we have to work out the financial details,” he began.

“Is there any preparation you need to do?” I asked.

“Well a little,” he said.

“Good. Please have someone start on it. Then we will work out the details,” I told him. It was 4:00 and I wanted to have some time to let Brian acclimate before dinner.

“It's priced at sticker, they're in demand,” he said.

“Fine. I will pay sticker. But I want to be out of here within 30 minutes. You can put it on this,” I said as I handed him my American Express Platinum card.

“Alright,” he said, and scurried off to get people moving. I waved to Rafael, telling him that he could leave us and head home.

“I've never seen anyone buy a car with a credit card,” Brian said. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome. Somewhere along the line, your mother or your father let you down. That you have come this far says a lot about you,” I said, looking at my watch. They led us into an office and had me sign the credit card receipt, titled the 4Runner in Brian's name, and then, 27 minutes later, we were done.

Brian drove us home, his eyes getting wider and wider as we wound into the Palo Alto Hills. We got to the gates and he looked at me. “Now what?”

I gave him the code to punch in. “I guess I should remember that,” he said.

“No, there is a remote control Rafael will give you,” I said. He drove up the long drive to the massive house that was Escorial.

“You live here?” he asked.

“I do. And so do you. It is just a house, albeit a nice, big house, but just a house. Park in back,” I said, pointing toward the garage.

“Welcome,” Rafael said. “Let me get you a remote for your new car. You will park it in that stall,” he said, pointing at one of the garages.

“OK,” Brian said nervously.

“We put all your things in your room,” Rafael said. “Mr. Burton's old room.”

“Thank you Rafael,” I intervened. Thoughts of Mouse jarred me, threatened to drag me down, but I fought them off. “Come on; let me show you to your living quarters.” I was trying to be light and cheerful, but this was just too much for the poor guy. I led him down the hall to a nice room at the end, the one that was once Mouse's room.

“Wow. This is really nice,” he said. I gave him a brief tour then led him back to his room to give him a little time for some solace before dinner. And to help him pick out some clothes. If Claire didn't take him shopping, I would. I headed back to our temporary room and found JP there, agitated.

“This is not your fault,” I told him. “You were co-opted into keeping this secret, and now you can, you must, finally tell everyone the truth.”

“Then why am I so nervous?” he asked me in a very crabby voice. I looked at him. At moments of extreme stress like this, he was not all that unlike Greg.

“You know, when you go out there and tell them about this, when you explain it to them, they will understand. But if they do not, I do. And I love you completely,” I told him.

He smiled at me and kissed me. “You sure you're not going to dump me for the younger model?”

“I have not even gone for a test drive,” I said. I looked at my watch. “I was going to take a shower before dinner. Join me?”

“I really should get things ready,” he said. He'd already prepared envelopes for his children. His mind drifted off, and then he sighed and smiled at me. “Let's go.” We took a shower and I made love to him, forcing him to give in to his sexual drives, forcing him to relax.

We dressed and then at 6:55 we went down to Brian's room to get him. He was wearing the khakis and the polo shirt I'd picked out for him, but they didn't really fit him very well. He looked totally dorky. “I'm really nervous,” he said.

“Me too,” JP told him. “Come on. We'll do this together. All three of us.” Each of us put an arm through Brian's and walked him to the dining room. When we got to the door, JP broke away and walked in first.

“What was so important Daddy?” Claire asked when she saw JP. Then she saw Brian and just stared at him, stunned. So did Ace. Brad saw me enjoying all this drama and rolled his eyes.

“I want you all to meet my half-brother. This is Brian Parnell,” he said. “Brian moved in today, and he'll be living here with us. He's working for Stef.”

“I didn't know you had a half-brother,” Ace said.

Isidore gave him a frightful look, irritated at his bad manners. “Brian, how wonderful you are here. You are most welcome. Please, have a seat,” Isidore said in her classy, graceful way. “We have a most unusual living arrangement here, so it may seem confusing at first.”

“Yes ma'am,” Brian said, sitting in his chair and slumping down as if he was trying to disappear.

“You must call me Isidore,” she said. “I am JP's wife.” I noticed Frank grimace at that slightly.

“I thought you were, uh,” he said, looking at me.

“You thought Stef was his wife?” Brad asked, snickering. “He assures us that is not always the case.”

“Well it is not,” I objected. “I can be quite dominant when I want to.” They all giggled and snickered then. “What? You do not believe me?”

“Calm down, Stef,” JP said. “They know you're a lover, not a fighter.” He turned to Brian. “Isidore is my wife, but that has long been simply a matter of convenience. She is one of my best friends though,” he said, looking at her, the love so apparent on his face it was touching.

“And you are one of my best friends JP,” Isidore said. There was a pause as they looked at each other, the friendship so strong, like tempered steel. She gestured to Ace. “This is André Clerreault, but we call him Ace. He is our oldest son, and the one sometimes lacking in manners,” she said, glaring at him.

“It's nice to meet you, Brian. I'm sorry. We're just a little shocked to see a young clone of our father strolling in,” Ace said in his jovial way, then introduced Brian to Cass.

“You think you were surprised, you should have seen me at lunch,” Brian said.

We laughed. “You have already met Bradley,” I said, glaring at him. “He is the obnoxious one. His partner is in Malibu.”

“After you get settled in, you'll have to come meet Robbie and our kids,” Brad said. “He's a great guy. And this is his father, Frank.”

As Brian exchanged greetings with Frank, he watched in wonder as Isidore placed her hand affectionately over Frank’s. This must seem like some bizarre commune to him.

“And this is our daughter, Claire,” Isidore continued, “and her husband, Jack.”

“Nice to meet you,” Claire said in a friendly way. I was so worried about her. She caught my eye and read my mind, and I just made her more nervous. Fuck.

“You know, I always enjoy these dinners. You just never know what's going to happen,” Jack said playfully. “You people have been keeping me entertained for almost 20 years now.”

“Jack's family is positively dull in comparison,” Claire said. “So where did you grow up?”

“Western Pennsylvania,” he said nervously. “I grew up with just my mother.”

“So what made you move to California?” Ace asked.

“You have to ask?” Brian joked. “It was the farthest away from Pennsylvania I could get without leaving the continental 49 states. I thought about Alaska, but I was sick of the cold.”

“Did you go to college here in California?” Claire asked.

“Yep. I just graduated in June from the University of Santa Clara. They gave me a scholarship, and with student loans I was able to make it work. That, and I worked some odd jobs on campus.”

“I'm impressed,” Jack said. “You achieved all of that without any of the advantages the rest of us have had.”

“Thanks,” Brian said shyly. “I guess I was lucky. School was easy for me, so my grades were always good.”

“I am not sure luck is the word to use. Perhaps intelligence would be more accurate,” I offered.

“So does Uncle Jim know that he has another brother yet?” Claire asked. JP's brother Jim. He'd shit a brick over this, she was thinking.