Lois, thank you for the beta...you are the greatest!
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Chapter 16 - Nicky’s Back Story (Sidebar)

Author’s Comments:  This sidebar is really a gapfiller between Defining Moments by Lois and the reappearance of Paul and Jason in Talisman Of Time and Between Now and Then.  I want to thank Lois for her help in preparing this Sidebar.

I’m sure some of you, especially those with kids, have wondered about the passiveness and quietness to Paul and Jason, as they are planning for Nicky’s fourth birthday party.  Usually with the approach of a kid’s birthday party, the parents would be especially bustling around with last minute details.  Yet that is clearly not the case here.  Instead, you have witnessed Justin driving to put the party elements into place.

You are probably wondering why Justin would allow his friends to take advantage of him this way.  Hopefully this Sidebar will help you understand.  Also, since Justin arrived in Cincinnati, there have been passing references to Alex.  Hopefully, this Sidebar will help to clarify those frequent references to Alex as well.

Warning:  This Sidebar contains unavoidable references to Death Of A Child.
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Once upon a time, some years ago, the time is a little vague because of the two-year gestation of Jenny Rebecca, Paul Dunbar and Jason Smith began a history with Brian and Justin.  You know this because by now, you have read the two stories by Lois:  See Me Through and Defining Moments.

You know from those stories that Paul, Brian, and Lindsay went to college together and were close friends back then; however, Paul lost touch with everyone over the years after business school.

In See Me Through, you have the story of how Paul and Brian reconnected at a conference in Atlanta, and the initial meeting of Jason and Justin…when Justin was only 18 years old.

In Defining Moments, Paul and Jason visit Pittsburgh on the way to New York.  The main reasons for the side trip was so that Paul could reconnect with Lindsay, and both Paul and Jason were most eager to meet Gus, who they had heard so much about.

Paul and Jason had been thinking of adding kids to their family.  Paul was from a large family and always knew he wanted kids.  Jason was an only child and had not spent a lot of time around kids.  He knew he wanted a child, but he just wasn’t sure how he and kids would get along.  And Jason knew that kids were not something that could be returned; so he was being very cautious about his decision.  

It was hoped that on that trip to Pittsburgh and the visit with Lindsay and Gus, that Jason would get a chance to spend some time with Gus and play with him and become more comfortable with any decision he ultimately made.  Paul just wanted Jason to make a choice he was happy with rather than be forced into a decision he would later regret.  So Paul was prepared to wait.

Paul and Jason eventually made the decision to have kids, and they dreamed about a child that was as biologically as close to the two of them as possible.  To help the couple come as close as possible to their dream, Gabrielle, Paul’s younger sister, wanted to be the surrogate, with Jason as the biological father.

Gabrielle was married to Ryan, and they already had two children.  They had been living away from Cincinnati for a few years due to the nature of Ryan’s work.  Gabrielle and Ryan talked things over, and they agreed to Gabrielle’s surrogacy so that Paul and Jason could have their dream of a family.

Gabrielle was artificially inseminated, and she eventually became pregnant with twins.

Paul and Jason were thrilled with the idea of twins…even if the daunting prospect of the twins took some getting used to.  But over the course of the pregnancy everyone was excited about the birth to the twins and couldn’t wait for their arrival.

Now, in the world according to Brian Kinney, Brian believed that Paul and Jason would never have time for a vacation…ever again in life…once the twins were born; so Brian and Justin and Paul and Jason decided to take a European vacation together before the babies were due to be born.  

While they were on vacation and lounging in the sun of Italy, Paul and Brian had teased one another that they planned to “kick the idea around” of maybe working together…maybe forming a partnership someday.

They never got a chance to “kick the idea around”.   While they were in Europe, problems developed with Gabrielle’s pregnancy.  So the foursome made a hasty return to the States.   Paul and Jason made it back in time for the birth of their kids accompanied by Brian and Justin.

They could see when the twins were delivered prematurely that something was wrong.  Alex was extremely pale and Nicky was extremely dusky red.  Both twins were extremely small.  Things were touch and go for sometime because the babies suffered from Twin to Twin Transfer Syndrome, a condition that is usually fatal to both twins.  In this syndrome, one twin literally gives the other twin all his blood.

And as it turned out, Alex died after a few hours, and things were difficult with Nicky for a while, with him being born prematurely and weighing less than 3 pounds.

At the time of Alex’s death, the family made a decision for cremation rather than burial.  They wanted Alex’s spirit to be free to soar, rather than be trapped here on earth in a single place.  In later years, when Nicky was older, that is how they wanted him to think of Alex too.

But for the present, Nicky was a premature infant, requiring constant nurturing by Paul and Jason and the entire family during the time immediately surrounding his birth.  It took a while for Nicky to gain the necessary weight to be released from the hospital.

Paul and Jason were at the hospital pretty much nonstop feeding and taking care of Nicky as well as seeing to Gabrielle’s recovery.  

The agency that was Dunbar and Smith was pretty much neglected. 

Paul and Jason had built an ad agency of talented individuals but without both of its leaders, the staff was rudderless…lacking both management guidance and creative direction.  

Paul was afraid of losing major accounts, so he pleaded with Brian to step in and run the agency until things could be stabilized with Nicky.  Paul suggested that Brian keep Justin here to help with the creative end in the art department.  So Brian took a leave of absence just before the Ryder/Vanguard transition and since Justin was able to negotiate with his professors for independent study at PIFA, the two of them remained in Cincinnati to help out their friends.

The ad execs at Dunbar and Smith were excited to be working with Brian, since they were aware of his reputation.  Glenn and the other members of the art department pulled together with Justin, under Brian’s leadership of the agency.  No one felt threatened due to the circumstances.  The employees were all loyal to Paul and Jason.  However, they developed a genuine fondness for Brian and Justin too.

Brian and Justin stayed at the house with Paul and Jason, living in the guest room.  

The extended Dunbar-Smith family was already fond of Brian and Justin, but the events of Nicky’s birth cemented the bonds between them all.  Both Fran Dunbar and Katie and Lee Smith considered Brian and Justin as their other sons.

Brian and Justin stayed in Cincinnati for about a month until Nicky was strong enough to come home from the hospital.  Then they remained in Cincinnati a little longer until Nicky’s daily routine was set, and Paul and Jason could resume some sort of schedule at their agency.  

So Brian and Justin have spent a lot of time with Nicky ever since he was a baby.

Paul and Jason asked Brian and Justin to be Nicky’s godparents.  These are duties that Brian and Justin had always taken very seriously.

Even when Nicky was too small to remember, Brian and Justin came for his birthday celebration.  Nicky had the pictures to prove it.  He was fascinated by pictures of his birthday, and he had lots of pictures of Brian and Justin.  

When Nicky was younger, his birthday celebrations were pretty much, simply extended family affairs.  Fran and Katie always made the cake and decorated it, but each year, Justin would always add special design touches to the cake decorations special.  

For a baby, the party decorations themselves tended to be relatively simple, so Jason usually created those with the help of Paul.  Justin might add a touch here and there to make them kind of special, if asked.

The families never said anything, but Paul and Jason were a little quieter each year around the time of Nicky’s birthday.  As expected, their happiness would always be tinged with a touch of sadness and thoughts of Alex.  Each year things got better and better.  So Brian and Justin just assumed the quietness would eventually past with time.  

And it was passing, Paul and Jason were moving forward until the approach of Nicky’s fourth birthday party.  

The change was sort of subtle at first, but something clearly happened. 

Since Jason’s favorite pastime has always been torturing Justin, the same way that Paul and Brian teased each other, no one thought it odd that Jason began to negotiate for Justin’s help almost a month in advance, and no one thought it particularly odd that he kept up the annoying reminders about coming early for Nicky’s birthday in every phone conversation.  This was just considered to be Jason being Jason.

However, any wavering on Justin’s part about coming to Cincinnati early would definitely set off panic alarms for Jason, and he turned up the whine factor…and on occasion, he could even rival Michael in this regard.  If anyone noticed, no one said anything.

So much was going on for Brian and Justin that they couldn’t easily recognize that this was more than just Jason being his usually annoying self.  

Brian eventually started to notice the increased volume in Jason’s pleadings just before Justin left, but he didn’t want to sound the alarm unnecessarily.   So he said nothing. 

But something was making this birthday different.  

Brian knew he would eventually get to the bottom of things.  So he kept monitoring the situation until he could arrive in Cincinnati himself.  Then, he would find out exactly what was going on.

And that is where our story is now…