Thanks JoAnn - I'm thrilled that you enjoyed this story :-) I find Brian's relationship with his family so interesting. My feeling is that his sense of filial duty is strong, even though he doesn't really like any of his family. He prefers the family he has chosen. That said, he was clearly shaken (for lack of a better word) by his father's death, and he was legitimately upset that his mother rejected his him because of his sexual orientation. But I really believe that, if something happened to his mother or sister, that he would do all he could to help them. His relationship with his family is very different from Justin's relationship with his (with the exception of Craig). I think the juxtaposition is interesting.

Thanks again for reading, and for your lovely comment *hugs*