by Trina Solet
On the back porch, they stopped by a screen door that led into the kitchen. Sammy went and opened the door to let out two orange cats. Right away they headed straight for Lenny who was straining to go meet up with them as well.
"Not so fast," Rob said and Danny got down to hold Lenny back.
Sammy sat on the porch steps and the cats came over to her. She pointed to each of them. "That's Natalie. That's Veronica. They're good kitties, but they try to eat anybody that's littler than them," she warned Danny then she leaned down to stare at their little cat faces. They mewed and got nose to nose with her. "Don't try to eat Lenny. I know he's little, but don't try to eat him."
While Sammy instructed the cats, Danny looked alarmed and hugged the little dog protectively.
"They won't eat him," Mitch assured him.
Sammy confirmed it. "That's right. I told them not to."
They let the pets get acquainted a little bit, and Rob remembered to take pictures. One picture was of Julian holding two cats while they both peered at him like they were in love. Of course they were. They had eyes.
Mitch had built an enclosure for the cats and he set it up on the back porch so they could stay out. They seemed to be content to sit and stare out at them while Lenny got all the attention.
Julian was talking to Mitch about renovations and Rico got busy texting. Rob was thinking that they would be leaving soon to go to dinner.
While Sammy was telling Danny how kitties drink with their tongues too, Lenny looked up at them attentively.
"He's listening," Sammy said. "Tell him something."
Danny got tongue tied so Rob helped him out. "Tell Lenny he's a good dog."
"You're a good dog," Danny said and Lenny arfed in reply. "He's always saying arf."
After thinking about it a little bit, Sammy had it translated. "It means 'I like you'."
Danny took her word for it. "You like me, Lenny? I like you too."
"Now he's happy!" Sammy told Danny.
Julian was saying how they needed to go and have dinner when Rico dismissed that idea. "You're eating with us. After we got you here, you think we're letting you get away?"
"It might not sound like it, but we're not kidnappers," Mitch said. "We would like you to stay for dinner."
Julian looked at Danny having so much fun and that decided it. But he still asked Rob, "What would you like to do?"
"We won't get a better offer," Rob told him with a grin and Julian nodded.
Mitch and Rico uncovered a grill and then they all heard a commotion out front. Running around the corner, Riley and DJ couldn't wait to see Lenny, and the little dog was excited to see them too.
"I might have texted a few people," Rico admitted.
Coming over more slowly, Wyatt was forced to wait for his turn to meet the dog. He got his chance when the kids all wanted to get a bowl of water for Lenny.
"Four kids getting one bowl of water. That's how it's done," Wyatt said as he got down to greet Lenny. He let Lenny sniff his hand then deftly avoided getting his face licked. "What's this young lady's name?"
"Lenny is a boy dog," Sammy informed him as she came out carrying a bowl of water together with Danny. None of the water made it over to Lenny. Good thing Mitch was following with a bottle of water, which he was forced to surrender to Riley. Then all the kids helped pour the water and some of it made it into the bowl.
"Yes, I got all that on video," Rico bragged then all the kids clamored to see it.
"Instant replay?" Rob said to Julian.
"I still have to catch up on some work emails," Julian said. "I was hoping to do that over dinner."
"That's not the life you're living right now," Rob told him as Mitch handed them each a beer.
"Sniffing is how dogs make friends," DJ was saying as Lenny was over by the screened in area, sniffing at one of the cats.
"You're friends with everybody," Danny whispered to Lenny.
Riley disagreed. "Not with everybody. He has to make friends with Barney and Brownie."
"We'll have to introduce them one of these days," Wyatt said then he saw that the grill had been uncovered. "Is there a barbeque in Lenny's honor?"
"In honor of the new dog, we're having hotdogs. Sam is bringing them when he comes by," Rico said.
"So we find ourselves at another party," Julian said.
"I noticed that. It's their fault," Rob said as he pointed at the other guys. They were busy around the grill giving Rob and Julian a moment to themselves.
Lenny was keeping the kids entertained, so Rob and Julian strolled the tree-lined back yard. "It's nice here," Julian said.
The late afternoon air was cooling as the sun hovered above the horizon. A breeze stirred the treetops and sent leaves fluttering to the ground. Rob caught one as it came down and found that he held all the colors of autumn in his hand in that one leaf.
It was pretty, but Rob knew he was staring at it to avoid staring at Julian. That he was in the periphery of Rob's vision was more than enough to stir his imagination. He pictured him and Julian out there alone, rolling around in the autumn leaves. They would unzip each other and...
The kids were shrieking and running after Lenny. The little dog had spotted two new arrivals rounding the corner of the house. That was Lara and Gloria coming over so the little redhead could squeal over the new dog too. She joined the kids. Lara only waved hi to Julian and Rob then went over to see what the other guys were up to.
Before going off, she gave Rob and Julian a smile, like she knew better than to interrupt them. What did they look like to her? They weren't doing anything, just meandering over the yard. It's not like they were holding hands.
By the time they joined her and the others, she was already armed with a beer. "You didn't bring your dogs?" Lara asked Wyatt.
"We thought it might be too much since Lenny is new," Wyatt said. "The boys will tell them all about the new dog in town."
"Where's your girlfriend?" Rob asked her.
Lara shook her head at Rico. "Now see what you've done." She then addressed Rob. "If you mean Noreen, she's not my girlfriend."
"Not yet," Rico said.
"We're just friends," Lara said. "And let this be a lesson to you never to listen to a thing Rico says."
Now Rob gave Rico a sideways look.
Rico shrugged. "They just won't see reason. I did invite Noreen. I said hotdogs. She said, 'Eh.'"
"Her grandmother is cooking dinner," Lara told him, but now it was Rob's turn to be questioned. "So you and Julian are work friends?" Lara asked though the look in her eyes said she thought they were more than that. Maybe that was Rico's doing too.
"I've only worked for Julian for a few days," Rob informed her.
"Oh. I was sure... I guess looks can be deceiving," she said with a shrug and a mischievous smile. She spotted the kittens and went to baby talk to them.
"We stick too close together," Julian said to Rob under his breath.
Rob felt a pang but then he realized that was just as much Julian's fault. "Want to split up?" Rob challenged him.
"No. Safety in numbers," Julian said while looking straight ahead.
"They're going to think we're a couple," Rob pointed out to him.
"I'll take that chance," Julian said and his voice cracked a little.
Rob tried to figure him out, but then all the kids ran over clamoring for attention.
"We have to bring leaves to school. Teacher said," Riley explained. "We have to go in the forest."
"You want to go in the forest at night? What if bears eat you?" Wyatt asked Riley.
Sammy gasped and covered Danny's ears. Then Gloria did too.
To get his attention, DJ pulled on Wyatt's jacket sleeve. "You'll scare Danny."
"Oh. I was just kidding," Wyatt said to reassure Danny. "I was talking about teddy bears. Big, fluffy teddy bears."
"I'm not scared. I have Lenny," Danny told him.
"He'll protect you?" Wyatt said eyeing the little dog doubtfully.
Danny nodded and gave Lenny a look of complete faith.
Leaning closer to Rob, Julian whispered in alarm, "Did you hear him? He thinks he's ready to go off on a wilderness adventure just because he got a tiny dog."
Smiling, Rob looked from the overprotective big brother to the little duo. They were both so tiny, who wouldn't want to protect them.
"You guys don't need to go into any forest. We have plenty of leaves out here," Mitch said and pointed to the fenced in back yard, which had plenty of fallen leaves to choose from.
"Does that mean we won't have to rake?" Rico asked.
"Depends on how many the kids pick up," Mitch told him deadpan.
"You're not that lazy, are you?" Rob asked him.
Rico faced him with is chin raised. "Is that a challenge?" He then got distracted when Mitch put an arm around his waist.
"Are you and Lenny going to look for some leaves too?" Rob asked Danny.
"We don't go to school," Danny said speaking for both himself and the dog.
"You and Lenny can still find some good leaves for me and Julian. We like leaves," Rob told him. Julian agreed with that and nodded.
"OK. Look for the good ones, Lenny," Danny told the dog.
Wyatt put a hand on DJ's shoulder and told him. "DJ, you're the oldest so you look after Danny and Lenny."
"No. Me," Sammy said.
"I'll do it," Riley volunteered.
"Me, me, me!" Gloria said and jumped up and down with her hand raised.
Wyatt gave up and put his hands up in surrender. "You can all look after them." But as they went off he gave DJ a wink to let him know he was really the one in charge.
Before seeing these kids in action, no one would think collecting a few leaves would be so noisy or competitive. There was yelling and running and some debate about climbing trees. Danny was the quietest, consulting with Lenny about every leaf.
Running over, Sammy showed Mitch a leaf bouquet she had made. "Look, Daddy! It's like flowers!"
"Are they for me?" Mitch asked.
"Yes," Sammy said and she smiled and gave them to him. Then Mitch pretended to smell them and she giggled.
Looking on, Gloria gasped. "I have to make one for Momma," she said in a panic and ran off.
"I'll make one for Rico," Sammy yelled and she ran off too.
A little later, Sam showed up with a big thermos and some shopping bags. He went to kiss Wyatt hello first then held out the bags to Rico. "Here are your hotdogs and buns," he said giving them to Rico.
"Let's get to work," Rico said to Mitch.
"Nice to see you guys again," Sam said to Rob and Julian. "I could have gotten something else, but Rico insisted on hotdogs.
"What else would you eat in honor of a new dog?" Rico said as he eyed the thermos Rico brought.
"This is some roasted red pepper cream soup from the café. I'll need some mugs. Where is the new dog?" Sam asked, not seeing him in the cluster of kids.
"The kids are collecting leaves for school and Danny and Lenny are helping them," Rob told him. "Do you need any help with the soup or anything?"
Sam's eyes flicked over to Julian and he said, "No. I can manage."
As he went inside, Rob was left to wonder if he imagined that Sam just refused his help so he wouldn't take him away from Julian. Was there a rumor about them or maybe Rob had been sticking too close to Julian, like he said.
He considered going to talk to Wyatt or Lara, who were both now cuddling the cats on the porch steps. Or maybe he could go over to Rico and Mitch at the grill. Or he could stay right where he was, next to Julian, wanting to touch him and kiss him but knowing that he couldn't do either.
Backing out through the screen door, Sam came out with a tray of mugs full of creamy soup. He carried them over like a professional. "The ones with the spice mix on top are for us. It's too much heat for the kids. But the soup isn't too hot," he said this while looking at Julian. He knew who was the overprotective one among them.
They called the kids over and handed out the mugs.
"Orange juice and soup too?" Danny said as he looked from his mug to Rob.
"You can drink lots of things from a mug," Rob told him.
It was Sam's turn to get acquainted with Lenny, and being a sweet, kind soul, he had nothing snarky to say about the little dog. "What a perfect little dog for Danny," he said.
Done with their soup, the kids clustered around the grill to watch the hotdogs going on the fire.
"Can I flip them?" Riley asked Mitch.
Mitch regarded the eager, little dude out of the corner of his eye. "When you're older," Mitch told him.
Riley made a face then he tattled on his uncle. "Uncle Wyatt made corn on the barbeque and he burned it."
"It wasn't burned, it was roasted," Wyatt said.
Riley looked up at him stubbornly then he sing-songed, "Buuuurned iiit."
Wyatt moved like he was going to get him for that, and Riley screamed and took off running and laughing.
"No one is chasing you, Ry," his big brother yelled since Wyatt wasn't coming after him, but the little guy just kept running. Seeing his brother sprinting away, DJ hung his head and sighed. "Now we have to go catch him."
All the kids took off chasing after Riley and yelling. Danny too with Lenny running alongside him.
"Kids got to do what kids got to do," Wyatt said as they all went running and screaming all over the yard.
"God, you're such a troublemaker," Sam said coming up behind his husband and setting down some hotdog toppings on the outdoor table.
Grabbing him around the waist, Wyatt kissed him. "You love that about me," Wyatt claimed, and Sam didn't deny it, just smiled at him.
"Break it up," Rico told them. "Hotdogs don't take all day to cook. Get those kids back here so they can eat."
Lara gave him a sly look. "Settle down, honey. You'll have a husband of your own one of these days. Unless someone steals him away from you."
Rico's head snapped around and he glared at her. "What? Are you saying your sister is coming back to visit?"
"One of these days," Lara said breezily.
Mitch groaned. "You're all troublemakers."
Rob and Julian looked at each other, wondering what that was all about. Being a little bit of a trouble-maker at heart, Rob was tempted to ask. But he didn't think Julian would enjoy the fireworks, so he satisfied himself with a raised eyebrow at Rico.
"No one can steal Mitch from me," Rico insisted then looked at Mitch to confirm it.
"I'm yours forever," Mitch told him and gave him a lingering kiss. "Now help me serve up these hotdogs."
"That's the level of romance you're supposed to save up for after you're married," Lara told them.
As the kids were called over and they lined up for their hotdogs, Rob took a moment to whisper to Julian. "You have an in with Rico. Find out what that's about."
Julian gave him a disbelieving look then he narrowed his pretty, brown eyes. "Are you looking for ammunition?"
"Maybe," Rob said with a shrug.
"You fit right in," Julian accused him then gave him a sad smile. Did Julian think that he didn't fit in with these guys?
"Danny didn't get a hotdog yet, Daddy," Sammy complained.
"He's next. I promise," Mitch told her.
"You didn't get one either," Rico pointed out to her.
"But Danny is littler. He needs to eat more," Sammy explained.
DJ saw her point, so he held out his hotdog to Danny. "You can have mine, I didn't bite it," DJ offered.
"I bited mine but you can have it," Riley said sticking out his as well, though he had taken a big, sloppy bite out of it already and had ketchup and mustard on his face to prove it.
"Yours is no good, Ry," DJ told him.
"Mine is better. It has more ketchup," Gloria said and tried to give him her hotdog too.
"Guys, don't fight. Danny will get his own hotdog," Mitch told them.
"I'm making sure the hotdogs aren't
too hot for you guys," Sam told them. He was the one holding up the process as he put on the toppings.
Rob pointed to him and told Julian, "There you go. Sam is your kind of guy."
"Taken," Julian said under his breath.
Rob's eyes flashed to him and he caught himself glaring at Julian. Was he being possessive of him? Fuck. That was stupid. Since they were off to one side and not likely to be overheard, Rob couldn't help questioning him, "So Sam is your type?"
Julian shrugged. "Not exactly. I just like that he's so kind and dependable."
Hearing that, Rob's heart sank. Twenty-six and still juggling short term jobs and wondering how long he could hang on to each place where he lived, he was the opposite of dependable. Damn.
The hotdogs were all gone and once again the kids were running around all over the yard with Lenny. The adults weren't as energetic. Sunset came on fast so now they were hanging out in the cool evening air under the glow of several porch lights.
As Rob and Julian sat together on the porch steps, they saw Mrs. Del Rio and her big, blond hairdo making their way over to them. She was carrying a big Tupperware container and Rico demanded, "What kind of half baked, monstrosity did you bring us?"
"It's all baked," his grandmother told him as he kissed her on the cheek. "It's pineapple upside down cake. Something sweet for the sweet babies."
"Cake from a box. Pineapples from a can," Rico guessed as Mrs. Del Rio handed the cake to Mitch.
"Then I suppose you won't be having a slice," his grandmother told him archly then she opened her arms as Sammy came over to her for a hug.
When Mrs. Del Rio told her what kind of cake she brought, Sammy asked eagerly, "With the cherries in the middle?"
"Of course, my sweetheart," Mrs. Del Rio told Sammy and made her happy.
"Maraschino cherries are nothing to brag about," Rico told his grandmother.
"This child loves them," Mrs. Del Rio told him and she and Sammy shared another hug.
"Wanna see Lenny?" Sammy asked her then took her away so all the kids could show her what an amazing creature Lenny was.
Cake was handed out and Mrs. Del Rio was back so Julian thanked her for vouching for him with the animal shelter. "You made Danny very happy."