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“Apparently, I do.” He inclined his chin toward the brand new, small wooden sign planted near the sidewalk. “Congratulations seem to be in order. You won.”

I smirked. “May the odds be ever in your favor for the contest at Christmas, old man. In the meantime, I’d be happy to take you out for a slice now that I have that shiny gift card.”

“Don’t let it go to your head, boy,” he growled jokingly. “Christmas is mine.”

“Oh, you’re on.”

He laughed. “You’ve started something here, but I’ll finish it.”

“Good luck with that,” I said. “First thing next weekend, I plan on revisiting the treasure trove of a store where I got all this stuff. I’m sure they’ll have their Christmas decorations out by then.”

“Son, I have thirty years’ worth of Christmas decorations in my house. One shopping spree won’t touch what I already have.”

I gestured around the yard. “All of this was the result of one shopping spree too.”

He sighed, his gaze flicking across the yard once more. “Well, I suppose we’ll just have to see when the times comes.”

“For sure.” I sat back down and nodded at the vacant folding chair next to mine. “Would you like to sit for a minute?”

He grimaced as he glanced toward the street. “There are more kids coming. I just thought I’d take the break between the groups to come over and congratulate you.”

“Right. Okay, well, my little brother and Tasha, who used to live here, are coming over to watch a movie later if you’re interested in joining us.”

“Thanks, but by the time we’ve put all these little miscreants on a sugar high, it’s going to be way past my bedtime. Watch a movie in the afternoon next time and I’ll join you for sure.”

I chuckled. “Fair enough. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be past our bedtime too, but Alicia said it’s a Halloween tradition for her and Tasha. Wyatt and I are just crashing their party.”

“I’m pretty sure it can’t be called crashing if you live here,” she called from the porch, then waved at Rex when he turned to look at her over his shoulder. “Better luck next year!”

He laughed. “You two are as bad as each other. Alright, well, I’d better get back before the kids start helping themselves to all that candy.”

“How many bags you got?” I asked.

“Eight. You?”

“Six.” I groaned. “It’ll be ten next year.”

“Nope. I’m putting my foot down on that one,” Alicia chimed in. “That’s already fourteen bags just between these two houses. At some point, there is such a thing as oversupplying.”

Rex and I exchanged a glance. Then he grumbled under his breath as he nodded at me before heading back across the street. “Ain’t no such thing as too much candy for a kid. Just another one of those modern hoaxes.”

As he disappeared back onto his porch, I laughed and leaned back in my chair, watching Alicia welcome the next group of kids when they ran up. Nearly tripping over each other to get to her, they laughed at something she said, her witch hat crooked and a spot of chocolate on her chin from a bar she’d devoured a few minutes ago.

As far as I was concerned, she’d never been more beautiful. Even if she was convinced she was already getting fat.

She wasn’t. Although, to be fair, I couldn’t wait until she did. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to be able to keep my hands off her once her belly started getting round with my child. As it was, I’d barely let her out the door in time to start my fire alongside our neighbors.

I stood up again to turn the hotdogs, once again getting the cape stuck on the armrest. As I wrestled it free, she chuckled, smiling at me like I was her favorite person in the world when I looked up and saw her watching me.

“You’re very intimidating, Batman.”

“Thank you.”

“That wasn’t a compliment,” she said in a sing-song tone. “How are you going to ravage the witch later if you can barely stand up without getting all tangled in your chair?”

I deliberately let my voice drop into a low, rough register. “I’m Batman.”

She burst out laughing again, fanning herself with a hand before winking at me. “Works every time.”