When Raquel came out and Sam was back with towels, Wyatt introduced them.
Then Riley stepped up to Raquel and looked up at her. "You can hug him too. Right, Sam?" he said while Sam looked kind of flustered.
"They've taken full ownership of poor Sam," Wyatt said as he beamed at him and then threw an arm around his shoulders.
"It's not them. I see you hogging him," Raquel said. Then she turned to Sam. "I knew you had to be someone special to get Wyatt's full attention."
"You know it," Wyatt confirmed. "Now let's get dry so we can get cooking."
"We wanna help," DJ and Riley said while Wyatt and Sam helped them dry their feet.
Raquel volunteered too. "Me too, or three."
Then Riley volunteered the dogs. "And Barney and Brownie wanna help."
"Yeah they are a lot of help in the kitchen," Wyatt said, but Riley didn't get his sarcasm.
"They are," he agreed. "They lick things. If something is dirty, they lick it and it's clean."
"Clean. Right," Wyatt said then he told Raquel. "We have them wash all the dishes."
When the kids and the dogs all had dry feet and they were going inside, Riley took Sam's hand and looked up at him with inquisitive eyes. "Sam, would you still like us if we were messy?" Riley wanted to know.
"Sure, I would," Sam told him and put his hand on top of his head affectionately.
"See, we don't have to clean," Riley announced triumphantly.
"We still have to clean," Wyatt insisted. Sam took the boys inside to get changed, and Wyatt looked after them fondly.
"You're great at this uncle thing and you have a real, live, cute as hell boyfriend. I am so proud of you," Raquel said as the two of them lingered on the porch.
"Wait till I cook something for you. You won't even recognize me as the same man," Wyatt told her and they went into the kitchen to do some cooking.
With everyone pitching in, Wyatt made a good-looking roasted tomato pasta with meatballs. Since they had just cleaned up the porch, Wyatt thought they might as well eat out there. Raquel loved the idea. When she and the boys went out to set the table, Wyatt got a little precious time alone with Sam.
Kissing the back of his neck, Wyatt told him, "You have to stay over."
"You have a full house," Sam said.
"There's plenty of room in my bed. That's where I need you," Wyatt told him and nuzzled his ear. Then he turned a little more serious. "After that scare today, wouldn't you feel better staying here?"
Sam opened his mouth like he was going to deny it then he closed his eyes and sighed. "Maybe."
"I know I would feel better having you close," Wyatt said and wrapped his arms around him. "This is how close I need you."
"It does feel nice. OK. I'll stay," Sam said and he relaxed against him for a minute before the kids burst in on them.
Dinner was served on the porch and it was a success. For a while they just sat out there and enjoyed the evening. Eventually the table got cleared, but then Sam kicked Wyatt out of the kitchen. "I'll deal with all this. You go hang out with Raquel."
Wyatt did want to talk to her. "How do you feel about babysitting?" he asked her when he went to join her in the living room where she was examining some family photos.
"Sure. You and Sam sneaking off somewhere?" she guessed.
"I want to take advantage of having you here. Seeing the moon come out inspired me. Sam and I want to take a stroll in the moonlight."
"Maybe jump each other in the bushes," she added.
"Shh," he warned her as the boys ran over. "Hey, you guys. Sam and I are going to have some grown up time, and Raquel is going to babysit you."
