by Trina Solet
"Happy to do it. These two little cuties belong together," she said as she smiled down at Danny, who was eating his slice of cake and Lenny, who was alert for any crumbs that might come his way.
"Mrs. Del Rio helped us get Lenny, do you want to thank her?" Julian asked Danny.
Danny looked up at her and said, "Thank you. Do you wanna to kiss Lenny?"
Everyone laughed, but Mrs. Del Rio picked up Lenny and gave him a kiss on the nose. Mrs. Del Rio sighed as the kids finished their dessert and took Lenny away to play with them.
"You got yourself a winner," she said to Julian and then looked over at Rob and winked at him.
Rico noticed. "You still talking about Lenny? And about that name. That dog has a purple scrunchie holding up his hair. Does he look like a Lenny?"
"Devina from the shelter told me about that," Mrs. Del Rio said. "He belonged to an old lady who named him after her favorite, late husband."
Hearing that, Rico sighed. "I guess he can keep the name."
"Thanks for the permission, but that was never up to you," Julian informed him.
"It's all good as long as you're happy with it, Jules," Rico said and hooked an arm over his shoulders.
It was not all good. Rob was ready to drag him off Julian, but one look from Mitch had Rico flying at him for a kiss. "You're gorgeous when you're jealous," Rico growled at his fiancé.
"Kids are present," Sam told them. And for good reason. In two seconds flat, those two had generated some serious heat. Not to be outdone, Wyatt grabbed Sam around the waist and gave him a kiss.
"Getting hot out here," Lara said while Mrs. Del Rio fanned herself.
And what was Rob doing? Glaring at everyone because he couldn't grab Julian and set the whole place on fire.
While Rob was busy being jealous of everyone in sight, Julian had sneaked off to do something on his phone or to run away maybe. When it looked like he was done, Rob went to join him.
"I needed to approve some changes before tomorrow morning," Julian said.
"And I was worried Rico was making you uncomfortable," Rob told him.
"You worry too much about him," Julian said with a smile and Rob grumbled.
He hoped Julian didn't realize why he felt that way. "My friends are already planning their Halloween parties," Rob said as he watched the kids turning on the lights inside the Halloween pumpkins.
"If you want time off to go..." Julian started saying.
"No. I was going to ask what you were planning," Rob told him and wondered why Julian was so eager to let him go.
"I ordered a costume for Danny. It should arrive soon," Julian said.
"What about trick or treating?"
"Oh. I don't really know. I suppose we could stop by a few houses of the people we know," Julian said but he sounded very unsure.
"Let's ask these guys what they have planned," Rob said. For Danny's sake, they had to make the most of a holiday like Halloween.
Julian told everyone that he had a costume for Danny but not Lenny. "I special ordered a bee costume for Danny a while back, but we didn't have Lenny then."
"I think I can make something for the little doggie, if it's not too complicated," Lara said. "I'm pretty much finished with ours."
"Really? Thank you," Julian said. "Danny's bee costume has a striped black and yellow cape. That's all Lenny would need."
It turned out that all the trick or treating was happening in town because the houses were kind of far apart. "It's called Halloween Town. It's like mall trick or treating. The merchants set up trick or treating tables on the sidewalk and people come in with baskets of treats to give out. Afterwards everyone is coming over to my place to eat. You guys are invited too," Lara said.
"Thank you. We should have you guys over one of these days," Julian told all of them.
"Your house is spooky," Rico hinted. "We're doing it potluck anyway. What do you say? Halloween at your place?"
Everyone looked at Lara. When she shrugged, they turned to Julian and Rob. Rob didn't think he was part of the decision, but Julian looked at him like he had a say. "Sounds good," Rob said and Julian nodded.
"We have a plan," Wyatt said.
"You'll need to deck the place out," Rico told Julian.
"I can get some Halloween decorations," Rob said and got a nod from Julian.
"The more bloody and hideous the better," Rico instructed him.
"No," Rob told him.
"I trust your judgment," Julian said to Rob then eyed Rico pointedly.
When they were ready to go, it was time for the kids to pack up their leaves. Rico got some paper bags and markers and had them write their names on them. Danny held his marker and watched the other kids writing.
"You can just do a drawing," Sam told him.
"Not my name?" Danny said, looking disappointed.
"You can do both," Rob told him. "Julian can help you write your name. And Lenny's too."
With Julian guiding his hand, Danny clumsily wrote Danny and then Lenny.
Now Danny looked happy. Going to the car, he proudly carried the paper bag with the leaves and his and Lenny's names on it. Everyone left at the same time and there was a lot of waving and yelling, "Bye!"
At home, Julian got an urgent call from a client so Rob helped Danny get ready for bed. Danny knew the routine and told Rob and Lenny about it. He was snug in bed when Julian was done and ready to tuck him in.
"Are me and Lenny gonna get a story?" Danny asked as Julian watched Lenny try to climb into bed with him.
Julian helped out the little dog, while Rob got Danny's favorite book. "You still like the Super Strong Little Bee, right?"
"Yes," Danny said while putting his arm around Lenny.
"I thought since you had Lenny now..." Rob said handing the book to Julian.
"No. I like everybody," Danny said. "Lenny and Super Strong Little Bee and you and Julian."
Rob was touched to be included. "Oh, OK. Thank you. I like you too," Rob said and made Danny get all shy and hide under the covers.
He came out to ask Rob to stay for the story. Rob sat down on the floor and got ready to listen. About to sit in his usual armchair, Julian changed his mind and sat on the floor too. Soon the room was filled with the sound of Julian's deep, soothing voice reading the book.
That didn't put Danny to sleep though. He was one tough, little customer. Rob got a sweet good night from Danny, and then he went out into the hall while Julian stayed to wait for him to fall asleep. Going to sit on the top step and text for a while, Rob didn't lie to himself. He was there waiting for Julian.
A short time later, Julian was there. Rob was going to get up, but Julian lowered himself down to sit next to him. "He's already asleep with Lenny right next to him," Julian said while a smile played on his lips.
"He went down fast after all."
"It's no wonder. It was such a busy day for him," Julian said. "For all of us actually. A welcome party for Lenny on top of everything. I'm still not sure how it happened."
"They probably do that kind a thing a lot," Rob said. "There aren't a lot of places to go around here, right? These guys have to make their own fun."
"That makes sense, I guess," Julian said.
"Danny was so happy to get to show off Lenny to everyone. And you have Halloween plans," Rob reminded him and watched him make a face.
"A Halloween party here," Julian shook his head like he couldn't believe it.
"I'll be pitching in. It won't be so bad," Rob told him and Julian gave him a grateful look.
"The big table in the formal dining room is perfect for potluck," Rob said and Julian laughed and ran his fingers through his dark hair.
"I was picturing my grandfather's reaction to all this. Just for that, it's worth it." Julian's smile then became wry. "My grandfather will turn over in his grave with the house full of tacky, Halloween decorations."
"For Halloween, the tackier the better," Rob told him. "Does that mean another shopping trip or do you jus
t want me to take care of it?"
"Danny will want to go, and..." Julian hesitated before admitting, "I don't want to miss out either."
"That's the spirit," Rob praised him.
"I feel dumb wanting to go," Julian said and lowered his head shyly.
Rob was tempted to tell him how much he liked spending time with him, and he hoped that Julian felt the same way. Not being able to read Julian, Rob couldn't take the chance that he would push him away.
"Those guys made me feel like... I don't know." Julian rubbed his forehead and sighed. His voice was hushed as he said, "Seeing happiness up close like that..."
"Jealous?" Rob teased him.
"Yes." Julian turned to stare at him very seriously.
His forthright answer surprised Rob. Accusing Julian of being jealous, he was only kidding, but his own jealousy was undeniable. Mostly Rob was jealous that he couldn't have Julian. No matter how much Julian might want something like what those guys had, he wouldn't want it with someone as lowly and unreliable as Rob.
Chapter 12
Breakfast was done and Mitch had arrived to work on the shutters without Rico. "I found this outside your door," Mitch said and handed off a package. While Julian was at his desk, Rob helped Danny unpack it and found his new spaceship and dinosaur sheets inside – just one small part of transforming his grandfather's house. Lenny sniffed the box then allowed Rob to take the sheets. "Lenny approves."
"Can we take them upstairs?" Danny asked.
"You can go with him," Julian told Rob. "It's not too busy here."
"Oh. OK. We'll take these up and put up the animal posters," Rob said.
"Me and Lenny are gonna help," Danny said and they all left together leaving Julian to his graphs and numbers.
Julian could hear them puttering around upstairs and then hammering the nails into the wall. Even that seemed like a happy noise. With Danny here, it was a different house than the one Julian grew up in.
Having Rob here so blond and handsome brightened up the place too. But Julian shouldn't have been thinking about him in that way. He had work to do.
Just as he was getting back to it, he heard Rico announcing himself from the front door. He hadn't arrived with Mitch, but he was here now. A few seconds of peace and quiet while he was probably kissing Mitch hello, and then Rico was poking his head into Julian's office.
"Jules," he said.
"Hi, Rico," Julian told him.
"Where's your boyfriend?" he asked after he looked into the other office and the library and didn't find him.
"You know Rob is not my boyfriend," Julian said, but Rico waved off his denial. "Isn't Mitch keeping you busy enough?"
"All night long," Rico bragged then gestured toward his grandfather's old office. "How come you work in here when you have that big office?"
"I might do something with it," Julian said evasively then he decided to tell Rico a little more. "It was my grandfather's office, and I don't have good memories of him or this place. I only came here for Danny."
"Because he's so skittish? What's that about?" Rico asked becoming uncharacteristically serious. He was also more perceptive than Julian realized.
"Danny was in an accident before he came to live with me. Now he gets scared easily especially by loud noises and cars," Julian told him.
"You picked a quiet spot. The banging we're doing when we're working won't scare him, will it?" Rico asked, impressing Julian with how thoughtful he was.
"He knows it's you guys. And he and Rob are upstairs making some noise of their own," Julian said.
"Rob is good with him, isn't he?" Rico said back to insinuating something again.
"Yes, he is. Coming back here and bringing Danny to a place that I only remembered with dread... I had a lot of doubts. That made me decide at the last minute to bring Rob with us. I was clutching at straws," Julian confessed.
"No. You were bringing your own fun. You were being smart and wily and not depending on luck," Rico told him.
"I don't know if you're praising me or accusing me," Julian said.
"I'm telling you that you did good. For all three of you," Rico said to make himself clear. "Rob is steady, strong, dependable, hot. What more could an uptight guy like you ask for?" Rico smirked and wiggled his eyebrows.
Knowing what Rico was implying with those wiggling eyebrows, Julian listed one more quality he liked in a prospective lover, "How about not employed by me?"
"What are you talking about? Rob is the perfect man," Rico told him.
Julian was surprised he would praise him like that. "Not for me."
"Yes, for you. I got a man," Rico said with a self-satisfied smirk.
"So when are you and Mitch going to get married?" Julian asked to change the subject.
"Soon. Now," Rico said impatiently then he sighed. "We were thinking we might have a winter wedding, maybe Valentine's. We need to save up for it. My grandmother offered to foot the bill, but we wanted to do it ourselves."
"Isn't it traditional to let relatives pay for the wedding?" Julian asked.
"It's Mitch. That's what he wants, and if it's important to him, then I'm all for it," Rico said and Julian could see how dedicated he was to making Mitch happy.
"I guess you won't be a terrible husband," Julian told him with a smile.
"Watch it or I'll think you like me or something," Rico claimed. "You'll make your boyfriend jealous."
"Do you ever let up?" Julian said.
"This is what you get for being uptight. But that can be a turn on too. Double check with Rob, see if he's into that." With that Rico went off.
As he got back to work, Julian wondered what Rob would think if he could hear the way Rico talked about him. The whole thing reminded Julian about his conversation with Rob last night. Thinking back to sitting with him on the stairs, Julian remembered how easy he was to talk to and be with. Just sitting with him, Julian wanted to listen to his deep, hushed voice and stay all night in his company.
***
Julian had work to do, but he didn't want Rob's help in the office. That left Rob free to do some decorating in Danny's room. They had fun, but Rob didn't like that Julian could do without him so easily.
By the time he went to bed that night, Rob was still worrying about that. Thoughts about having to leave wouldn't let him sleep. He gave up, got out of bed so he could go to that room down the hall and stare at the TV screen for a while.
Stepping into the hallway, Rob saw that the light was on like always. But before he even got there, Rob noticed the light was on inside the sitting room too. Stopping in the doorway, he saw Julian sitting on the sofa with his laptop on his knees and some files by his side and on the coffee table.
Though he was ready to leave him to it, Rob lingered too long. He was staring at Julian's handsome profile and he was spotted. Once Julian turned those pretty, brown eyes on him, he didn't even want to move.
"You can come in," Julian told him.
Rob still hesitated. "I was just going to watch some TV. I don't want to disturb you."
"I told you to use this room. I'm experimenting with leaving Danny alone, but I don't want to be too far in case he comes looking for me. This room is right across the hall. That's why I'm here. You won't bother me if you watch TV," Julian told him.
"If you're sure," Rob said and he went in. He wondered where he would sit when he saw that Julian was clearing space next to him on the sofa. Grabbing the remote, Rob took a seat, leaning into the corner so he wouldn't crowd him. From there he could see that Julian was working. "Is this something urgent? I can help, if you want," he offered.
Once again Julian refused his help. "That's OK. I was just working to keep busy."
"Is working what you do to unwind?" Rob asked.
"Kind of," Julian admitted.
In response, Rob hung his head and groaned. "OK. You're setting that aside and watching TV with me."
To his surprise, Julian agreed easily. "OK."
Julian put the lapt
op and the files on the coffee table while Rob flipped channels. He stopped when he came across a nature documentary.
"Is this for me?" Julian asked him.
"I had a hunch you might like something like this," Rob said.
The documentary was about the tundra, and after watching it a while Julian said. "It looks desolate and lonely. Wouldn't you rather watch something more cheerful?"
"So you can tell I need cheering up?" Rob asked.
"I didn't want to pry, but I did wonder why you couldn't sleep," Julian admitted turning sideways to face him. "You made it sound like it happened often."
"From time to time. That's when I need the TV for company," Rob told him.
"Not the internet?" Julian asked.
"TV is kind of traditional. After our mom died, my sister and I used to keep each other company when we couldn't sleep, which was a lot. We would watch TV together or just flip channels. Sometimes we did that straight until morning, not getting a wink of sleep. Back then my sister said that I had forgotten how to sleep, and I guess I never relearned it." Rob remembered how Christie came over to keep him company whenever he was up, and Rob did the same for her.
"I'm sorry about your mom," Julian said.
"Yeah, those were hard days. She took her own life." Rob felt like he had to say it. It was a painful truth he didn't want to hide.
Rob heard Julian gasp softly. "I'm so sorry," he said in a hushed voice.
"She struggled with depression for a long time but especially after she lost her job. She was a music teacher, and she couldn't find any work, so she just kept sinking deeper. The whole time, she was quiet, hiding from us how bad it was. We were her family. We should have seen through her empty smiles." Rob paused then pushed on in a voice raw with emotion. "I was fifteen and my sister was seventeen when it happened. We were at school. My sister had volleyball practice, and I went to watch since she was my ride from school. Dad got home from work first. He found Mom in the bathtub. He was still there kneeling by her side when my sister and I came home. There was no hope. She had been like that since morning."
