"It's an improvement," Rob said after checking him out. "You don't make a half bad vampire though."
Rico wasn't happy to see what they had done. "You sneaky..." Rico gritted his teeth and stopped himself from saying the rest. "It's a Halloween party. Costumes are mandatory."
Sam took their side though. "Don't you think you tortured them enough?"
Rico flat out said, "No. They're in big trouble." He then called on the kids to pile on. "Hey kids, look what these guys did. Tell them how much trouble they're in."
"Oh, no," the kids yelled. They were all disappointed, pouting at Rob and Julian, but Danny stuck up for them.
"They're not in trouble. I told them it's OK," Danny said and Julian kissed his cheek to say thank you.
At that point the other kids reluctantly let them off the hook.
"Danny said it was OK?" Julian asked Rob when they went to get drinks.
"Yeah, I asked his permission," Rob told him and Julian smiled at him. "You seem to be in a good mood."
"I'm free of that costume, why wouldn't I be?" Julian said, but Rob was thinking that this was the little boy, who had missed out on so much because his grandfather was an ogre, finally getting to have some silly, childish fun.
"Thanks for hosting this thing," Lara told them when they went over to the bar. She had taken charge of the drinks.
"This place really is perfect for a Halloween party," Rico said while getting two beers and handing one to Mitch.
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Julian asked him.
"Of course it is. I'm all about the horror vibe," Rico said and Mitch nodded knowingly.
"I'm hoping you two will change that," Julian told them.
"Your little bee seems right at home here," Mitch said.
"I hope so," Julian was looking over at Danny with the rest of the kids and smiling.
While Rob was gazing at Julian, admiring his smile, he noticed Rico and Lara giving him significant looks. He needed to watch himself around these guys.
Hearing Julian mention some of his plans for the house, Lara and Noreen wanted a tour. Julian started showing them around, and then the kids and the dogs went along and it turned into a whole procession. Rob stayed behind with the rest of the guys.
"We still need to have you over and let the dogs run around the back yard together," Wyatt said to Rob as he watched the others disappear down the hall.
"Don't include me. I don't know how much longer Julian is going to need me," Rob said. Saying that out loud was really painful, but he had to face reality.
"From what I've seen, Julian relies on you a lot," Mitch told him.
"Not as much as I thought," Rob told them. "His assistant at Upton Investments is handling most of the business stuff. She's a lot better with all that financial stuff than I am. Most of the time, I've been helping with Danny."
"So? That's the most important thing," Rico told him and Mitch agreed with a nod. Then Rico stared at Rob, looked him up and down and pointed a finger at him. "Dude. You're a manny."
"I am?" Rob said.
"Yup," Rico confirmed like the issue was settled.
"How do you feel about that job description?" Wyatt asked him.
Rob wasn't sure, whether he was an assistant or a manny, or both, the job would still only last until Julian and Danny settled in properly.
Their get-together spilled over from the dining room to the living room. It went on past the kids' bedtimes, but some of them didn't last. Gloria had fallen asleep curled up in Lara's lap. Noreen was reclined next to them swirling a glass of good scotch.
Riley, the most hyper of the kids, was stretched out across Wyatt and Sam's laps, a sleeping little pirate. The other kids were playing cards, three kids vs. three dogs.
