Your Song 
Chapter 2 Surrender

"Justin."  Craig stood outside his sons door.  "Molly and the kids are here."

"A quiet night at home!"  Justin yelled to his father.

Craig knocked on the door and then let himself in.  "I know you want to be alone."  Craig said sadly.  He walked into the sitting room where Justin sat staring at a blank television screen.  "But Keith and Kenny are here.  They want to play with their favourite uncle."

Justin turned to his father for a moment but then looked away again.  "Remember that your brother is a boy."

"Justin, please, Molly didn't mean to get upset with you the last time she was here.  She just misses you.  Misses the way you were."  Craig said sitting next to his distraught son.  “I miss you.”  Craig said quietly, sure Justin didn’t hear him.

"You thought you knew me.  But you never really knew me at all."  Justin whispered.

"That's not true Justin.  You are just a little hard to take sometimes.  But she loves you and I love you, and so do the little rascal twins downstairs.

"Boys will be boys."  Justin said and turned towards his father.  He really did miss his twin nephews.  It had been almost two months since he'd seen the two year olds.  But he wasn't too fond of his sister.  

The last time Molly’s family had come to Pittsburgh to visit she made fun of him at dinner in front of her husband Kyle.  It had been the first time they had met because Kyle had been in Iraq.  Kyle and Molly eloped in Vegas right after Molly found out she was pregnant.  

Justin usually retreated into himself whenever he had to be around someone new.  But he told himself he wouldn’t do that to Molly and tried to be brave.

Justin visited with the twins for a little while and then went to sit with his Molly, Kyle and Craig in the living room.

“So, Justin, Molly says you are a song writer.”  Kyle said, he didn’t believe what Molly had told him about Justin and wanted to see for himself.  He thought that it would be rather amusing.

Justin nodded his head and smiled shyly, hoping that Kyle’s questions would stop there.

When Justin kept quiet Kyle continued.  “She also told me that you refused the invitation to go to the Grammy’s last year.  Don’t you want to be recognized for your work?”

Craig noticed that Justin began to shift in his seat and quickly jumped in.  “Justin actually took home five Grammy’s last year, three the year before.  He just isn’t too fond of the whole Hollywood life.”  Craig said.

“Do you think your better than all them?”  Kyle boldly asked.

Justin shook his head no.  His cheeks started to turn pink.

“Why don’t you just sing the music you write.  Instead of letting someone else take the credit Justin.  Molly said you were very talented.”  Kyle prodded.

Justin had asked himself that same question many times.  But how could he tell Kyle?  Obviously Molly hasn’t shared everything with her husband.

Justin felt like he was going to throw up.  So he did the only thing he knew.  He started to sing.

“Mother told me, yes, she told me I’d meet girls like you.”  He sung looking at Molly.
“She also told me, ‘stay away, you'll never know what you'll catch.”  Justin looked at both Molly and Kyle when he said this but then turned his attention back to Kyle.
“Just the other day I heard a soldier falling off some Indonesian junk that's going round.”

Molly seldom acted embarrassed of her brother.  More so, she took on the role of protector and mother to Justin even though she was seven years younger.  But, now, she couldn’t hold it back.  “Justin!”  She shouted and stood up from the couch.

Justin stopped singing and looked at his sister, startled.  “Now, I had heard the was recruited old maids for the war.”  He said softly.

“Justin, just stop!  Why can’t you just speak?”  Molly stormed off and went to go see after the kids who were playing in the play room upstairs.

Justin stood from the couch.  “Smoking in the boys room.”  He said turning to his father before going upstairs to his rooms for a cigarette.”

After a while Justin came downstairs and heard his father talking to Kyle.  “I’m really sorry about that Mr.  Taylor.”  Kyle said.  “I thought Molly was joking when she said that Justin would only speak if it was in song.  I mean, I thought, well, I don’t know what I thought, but I wasn’t expecting that.”  Kyle said dumbfounded.

“Look Kyle, now that you are part of our family, I should tell you something.”  Craig said.  

Justin felt his heart pounding, he wondered if Craig was going to tell him all about his mother and what had happened to her and himself.

“We are lucky if Justin talks to any of us, and sometimes it can upset people, freak them out, embarrass them, whatever.”  Craig ran a hand through his hair and sighed.  “But it’s a hell of a lot better than him being alone, not talking to anyone, not expressing what he feels.  He’s my son, and I won’t have anyone making fun of him, or discouraging the way he needs to talk in his own home.  Got it!”

Kyle gulped.  The last thing he wanted was to upset Molly’s father.  “Got it sir.”

After Justin appeared Kyle had apologized to his brother in law and they proceeded with the Holiday.  However it seemed that Molly had not ‘gotten it’.

For some reason, on Thanksgiving, Molly had taken it upon herself to apologize to Kyle about Justin's behaviour all through out the meal.  Most times her mothering was alright, but now, she was acting as though Justin was a five year old.  Justin was humiliated.  Not once had he ever had to worry about the way Molly treated him.  He thought that she understood him.  She was his best friend.  But now, she was Kyle's, and Justin felt like the gum on Molly's shoe.  His heart broke more and more with every roll of her blue eyes and with every exaggerated sigh from her mouth.

Justin was used to the world making fun of him.  Treating him as though he was one big joke, or throwing constant pity his way.  There was no in-between, rarely a stage upon which he did not have to act.  For years he had hidden himself from that reality.  That's why he had created his own world.  

He didn't need anything but his music and his family.   Thanksgiving was supposed to be a happy day to celebrate and give thanks for the wonderful people that surrounded him.  The only people in his life that had ever really cared about him, his family.

Justin spent hours that morning and afternoon creating the perfect Thanksgiving feast.  He tried to ignore Molly's comments and the looks that came from her husband directed towards him, full of scowls, pity and chaste.  But he couldn't ignore it when Molly had poked fun at the delicious, yet untraditional Thanksgiving meal.  

She pointed out the fact that Justin  had the exact same feast pre-pared for any dinner no matter the holiday.  Corn beef, cabbage, corn, potatoes, asparagus and pecan pie.  That was the last dinner his mother had made him.  Molly had been so young when his mother died she had no idea of the real emotional significance of this meal to both Justin and her father.  

Still, Justin had felt that he could at least be comfortable with his sister.  However; that was not the case.  She was treating him the same way everyone else did once they noticed his ticks and his speech.  In the end she had ended up calling him a mute, music freak.  

Justin felt his heart shatter.  He had thought she understood, but he was wrong. "Hit the road Jack!  And don't you come back no more no more no more no more!!!!   Hit the road Jack!"  He shouted, getting up from the table and pointing to the foyer.

Craig was put in an awful position.  He loved each of his children equally.  He wanted them to be a family through the holidays.  But he was appalled at Molly's behaviour and he didn't care for her choice for a husband.  

Craig said goodbye to his grandbabies and told Molly that he was ashamed of her.  Molly and her family left without another word.  That Christmas was spent with Kyle's mother in Vermont.  New Year's saw the family  in New York with Kyle's father.  The first the Taylor family had ever spent apart.

Craig and Justin spent Christmas, together, as they always had.  This time without Molly.  They decorated the tree with all the trimmings Justin's mom had used and hung their stockings next to one another's on the large brick mantel of the fireplace in the den.

The whole time Craig and Justin listened to Christmas carols.  Craig would often watch as his normally quiet and withdrawn son would burst out into singing, beautifully to whatever song played.  His blue eyes seemed alive as he acted goofy and childish, dancing around, sometimes encouraging him to dance and sing the silly songs.

Craig missed his daughter.  But he could not let anyone harm his little boy.  Not ever again.

There weren't many presents under the tree to be opened.  Most were things they had bought for other's that would be received at a later time.  Craig gave Justin the Tolkien collection, the DVD version of Song Burst, and a stocking full of goodies.  There wasn't much in the way of possessions that his son lacked.  Justin's present for him didn't fit underneath the Christmas Tree.  Somehow Justin had managed to surprise him with a Silver, 2006 Astin Martin, sitting in their large garage with a big red bow upon it.

For dinner the two munched on pizza rolls, veggie sticks and chilli while they sat in the living room and played Song Burst until Justin, as predicted had beaten his father with a landslide.  New Years Eve was spent much the same way.

It was two weeks after the New Year that Molly had finally phoned to apologize for the way she had treated her brother at Thanksgiving.  Craig spoke to Molly a few times since then and arranged a date for her and the boys to come and open their Christmas gifts.  He had told Justin many times about Molly's apology, but he couldn't blame his son for not taking it right away.  He himself had been hurt deeply by Molly's words and actions and he could only imagine how Justin felt about them.  They had always been so close, and Molly had thrown that all away.  It was now up to her to get her brother back.

But that didn't stop Craig from trying to help his children bridge the gap between them.  "How about I send Molly up and you two can talk?"

Justin shook his head no.

"Come on Justin?  She wants to apologize.  She's downstairs making our special dinner as we speak."  Craig said softly.  "I explained it to her Justin.  She was so little when Mom died..."   Craig trailed off.  Thinking about his wife almost always made him cry.

Justin looked at his Dad.  He saw tears prickling in the back of his blue-grey eyes.  He didn't want to talk to Molly, but he didn't want to see his dad hurting either.  He nodded his head.

Craig cleared his throat and wiped at his eyes.  "You'll talk to Molly then?"

Justin nodded and got up from the couch to go downstairs.  Before he could make it to his door he felt himself being pulled into a hug.  "You're a good boy Justin.  You've never stopped making me proud, not since the day you were born."

Justin hugged his father back tightly.  He loved his father so much.  If it hadn't been for him, Justin knows, that he would never have had the courage to be anyone at all.  Even if who he was, was just a mute, music freak.