"I can't believe you have two jobs," Rob said to him. He didn't seem like the type.
"And he takes online classes in restaurant management," Sam said and grinned at his friend proudly.
"It's Mitch's influence," Rico said and he looked modest for once.
"I guess you guys are making dinner," Sam said seeing that they had some frozen vegetables out.
"These guys are hopeless in the kitchen. Why do you think Danny asked if you brought dinner?" Rico told him.
"What do you eat?" Sam asked Rob and Julian.
"Take-out or order in. I also know how to spill a bag of salad into a bowl," Julian said then held up a bag of frozen vegetables. "And I can manage these."
"This is Wyatt all over again," Sam said to him. Giving up on Julian, he turned to Rob. "You can cook, right?"
Rob nodded. "I have some cooking skills. I can heat up something from a can, and I can heat up something from a box or a bag."
"Oh God," Sam said and hung his head.
"Look what you did. You traumatized Sam," Rico said and put a comforting arm around him. Then he looked at Danny. "Danny, it's all up to you."
Danny wasn't paying any attention to them until Rico said his name. "Me?" he said as he looked up from his drawing.
"You'll have to cook," Rico told him.
"I'm a little kid. I can't cook," Danny told him. He was always having to set him straight.
"Speaking of Danny. You can't feed a kid from cans and boxes," Sam told them. "I can teach you some cooking basics and you can go online for the rest."
Rico had some misgivings about that. "Teaching them how to cook? I don't know. Isn't that how you seduced Wyatt?"
"I didn't... Never mind that. All humans should know how to cook," Sam declared passionately while Rico cracked up. Sam stopped trying to defend himself. He set his jaw and threw a challenge at Rico. "Fine. Then you teach them."
"No one needs to teach us. We can figure it out ourselves," Julian told them both.
"You say that now, but you'll end up fishing your severed fingers out of the soup," Rico predicted.
"Hey!" Rob warned him and pointed at Danny, who had gone back to ignoring them in favor of his drawing.
"I keep telling you people, kids don't know what severed means," Rico said and rolled his eyes. He then crouched down next to Danny. "Tell these guys that kids need good things to eat," Rico instructed him.
Turning to them, Danny dutifully repeated, "Kids need good things to eat. And Lenny too." The dog was now lying under the kitchen table, patiently waiting for his drawing.
"Such a sweet kid," Rico praised him and gave him a wink. "I'm counting on you man. Keep these guys out of trouble." He pointed his thumb at Julian and Rob.
Nodding, Danny looked over at them like they really might be troublemakers of some kind.
As soon as Rico and Sam were gone, Julian turned to Rob. "OK. Let's order in."
"After all that?" Rob said.
"I'll call it in from the café and make Rico deliver it," Julian said.
Rob liked that idea, and he also liked the defiant gleam in his dark eyes. Danny wasn't thrilled with the plan though.
"No cooking?" Danny said, disappointed.
Now Julian grumbled, his resolve melting.
