His nose never lied.

Mac's eyes followed the two newcomers. Well, one actually. The Archer kid, queer as a damn three dollar bill, was looking a lot better than when he'd seen him last. Fixed that pretty nose of his right up. Nice kid. Well-spoken and obviously smart. Mac shook his head, the gay thing was a toughie but what to do? The ones that had beat on him were worse in his estimation.

They weren't gay but they were cowards. That rated higher in Mac's Loser Code. As a point of fact, they were ranking very near the top currently.

This latest fiasco in which they'd tried to gang up on one boy told Mac all he needed to know about the direction that little gang of brats was going.

Nowhere.

He thought they were prime candidates for The Solution.

He felt the smile he had on his face turn to a grin.

*

Caleb

I watched Onyx brown nose Gramps as he got a big-ass, dreamy grin on his face. I walked over there, leaving the argument of who was going to start the bonfire behind.

"What are you thinking about, Gramps?"

He turned sharply to me. "Just daydreaming."

Jade took the last bag of candy from him and frowned after she touched it.

Looks like he'd been doing a little more than daydreaming.

But Jade didn't say anything. She did give me The Look though.

She sidled past me, giving me a peck on my cheek, standing on her tiptoes to do it. "I'm gonna go run interference between Buddy and Jonesy, K?"

Yeah, I heard that.

I watched her walk away, bundled up like we were in the Antarctic instead of a suburb of Kent. Her huge pink puffy dwarfed her smallness. I turned reluctantly away from the great view of Jade.

"Need any help, Gramps?" I asked.

"Nah, bout got this whole deal wrapped up," giving me a speculative look when he saw I was scoping for witnesses.

"You got something you need to get off your chest, Caleb?" he asked, planting his big hands on his hips. His eyes, so much like my mom's, bored into me.

I told him about the Graysheets event on the way back from his house yesterday.

The Parker Encounter. Sorta extra terrestrial. Not that there were aliens.

What a dumb idea that was.

I finished and watched as his fists curled into hammers at his side. "Those sons of bitches," he hissed, looking at me through eyes that had darkened to storm clouds. "They just won't leave ya alone. And why is Parker reeling you in, trying to warn you?" he spoke out loud, scrubbing his face, thinking about if it was connected.

How it was connected.

He put up a waggling finger. "Somehow, those damn Graysheets are behind this. I don't know how but I think you're gonna have to figure that out, Caleb. Better not to get surprised again. Better to sniff this thing out before it bites you in your keister."

Suddenly he barked out a laugh and I cocked a brow.

When he finally settled down he said, "I love the bug idea! That's a hoot... death-by-bugs. Who said you weren't creative? You get that from me," he ended on a self-satisfied note.

Nice, glad I could be the source of humor for the day.

The Parents and Bill and Helen drove up about the same time.

The guys stopped what they were doing to watch the avalanche of crap exiting the Jones' vehicle. It was incredible. All that for a four month old baby.

"Jonesy, get over here and help Mom with Micah's stuff!"

"Oh hell," Jonesy muttered under his breath, leaving his post of watching Buddy and Sophie drape all over each other.

He trudged over there like the death march. Totally not wanting to help.

I could see why. Micah was hollering, her little fists flailing and pumping in the air, her skin a sea of chocolate swaddled in pink.

I was intensely glad I was an only child. I saw similar expressions on John and Alex's faces.

Jonesy got over there and Bill handed off all the stuff. Somehow they got this ginormous play yard thing unfolded out of the car and he and Jonesy set it up a safe distance from the bonfire that Gramps had saved from being small.

Now the flames were ten feet high. It was amazing that the neighbors wouldn't call the fire department.

I asked Gramps about that.

"I'll put up that sign again," he responded.

"What sign, Mr. O'Brien?" Archer asked.

"Mac," he corrected.

Lewis nodded, waiting.

Cripes.

"Well, my neighbors got a little hot under the collar when they found out I was a believer in home defense. Didn't like all the weaponry I had."

Lewis frowned and John and Alex smiled. They knew all about Gramps' take on Home Defense.

Establish the arsenal.

Uh-huh.

Gramps answered, "The sign that says that 'I respect their passivity and if there is an intruder, I would not use my guns to protect them'."

Archer laughed. "Really?"

Gramps nodded. "It took care of a bunch of their ragging and bitching."

Archer looked around, taking in the blazing fire and huge lawn.

And he hadn't even been inside the house yet.

"So, let me get this straight. You don't follow any of the mandatory environmental sanctions and when you are called on it, you throw out the sign."

"Yes. I don't win any popularity contests and neighbor relations are kinda strained..."

I did a mental eye roll. Like he cared.

Gramps smiled at my expression. "But here's the thing, they can do the pansy dance while I prepare for the possibilities that our fine country now offers."

Archer raised a blond eyebrow.

"Conditional protection. They protect American citizens within a very narrow scope now," he said, looking at me significantly.

I gotcha.

"You must have gotten under their grandfathering year by this much," Archer said, putting his index and thumb almost together.

Gramps nodded. "Most people are too lazy to know their rights. While they had their thumbs up their collective asses, I was filling out paperwork at all the government buildings."

Archer smiled, turning to me. "He kinda reminds me of you, Caleb."

Gramps shook his head. "No. Caleb reminds you of me, pal."

Archer smiled and that's when I noticed that the baby's wailing had quieted down.

"God, look at that!" Archer whispered, awestruck.

It was Jonesy, all Man of the Hour. He had a strong forearm wrapped around Micah's small body, humming a little tune and swinging his hips back and forth.

No gyration at all. Brother mode, all the way.

Sophie's eyes were trained on Jonesy and he hadn't noticed that every teenager was staring at him, plus my parents. The crackling of the fire was the only noise, save his tuneless humming.

"I'll be damned," said Gramps.

Yeah.

Tiff broke the silence with, "Well, Jones, I never would've thought... " as she walked over there to see the baby sleeping soundly.

Helen came over next to Jonesy, her hair swinging stiffly on her head as she walked. I watched Lewis look at the rock hard assembly of it, grimacing.

Jade said, "That's so cute, Jonesy!" She ran over to admire Jonesy holding Micah.

Finally, Sophie walked over there as if compelled and Buddy frowned.

I felt a little for him. He was no competition for The Baby and all its cuteness. Not even close.

Alex and John came to flank me while we watched Jonesy suck up all the attention from the girls. Especially Sophie.

He hadn't had a lick of attention from her since the talk yesterday and now he was the center of the universe because of his baby sister.

Who would've thought?

The quiet was broken by the first round of trick-or-treaters.

Helen took Micah from Jonesy. It was the way he expertly rolled Micah into her arms that was impressive, his big arms flowing like water into her embrace, the hand-off smooth.

Huh. I guess there was more to Jonesy than we knew. Didn't know he had it in him.

Apparently, neither did the girls. Tiff was eying him up pretty hard.

Then Helen ruined it all by saying, "He's a champion diaper changer too. I'm so proud of her big brother."

Buddy laughed. "Nice Jones. Poop Patrol."

Jonesy froze, his moment of glory compromised by the uncoolness of human feces.

Helen frowned, Micah still snoozing in her arms. "Who are you?" Then her eyes really narrowed. "Are you in high school?" Her eyes roamed to Sophie next to him, a look of concern there.

He nodded. "Yes, I'm a senior."

"Humph!" she stalked off. Her hair bounced as she moved, Micah's pink head getting smaller as she disappeared into the house.

Sophie gave him a sidelong look. He shrugged. "Sometimes people think I'm older."

"It wouldn't be your conversational skills, Buddy," Tiff noted in a droll way.

He scowled and she grinned back, gotcha.

Lewis smiled at Tiff at the same time keeping his distance from Buddy. He was so not a part of the group. While Lewis was naturally in, even with his gayness, Buddy stood out like a turd in a punchbowl. Forever floating and stinking. What Sophie saw in him... I didn't know.

Gramps brought out a huge cake and set it on the picnic table. The thing looked like the leaning tower of Pisa. I glanced at Mom and she shrugged.

"It's the big birthday. I thought you'd like a quadruple layer chocolate fudge," she said.

I looked at it, precariously leaning. "I don't know, Mom... will it even fit on the plates?"

Jonesy turned on me. "Come on Hart! You can't let a little thing like size get in the way?" He spread his hands wide and the chicks laughed.

The Appetite was rearing its head.

Per usual.

We put Archer on first shift with handing out candy and Tiff immediately said she'd get him his slice of cake and bring it to him when she relieved him. He was low man on the totem pole and had to suck up the chore with the first wave of brats.

We dug in. Actually, the cake collapsed on its side and we sorta shoveled out our pieces, Mom frowning that it hadn't stood the test of gravity better.

It was Lewis' voice that made me stand, cake forgotten, spork clattering on the glass dish.

"Caleb," I heard Archer say loudly, his tone underscored with an emotion I knew well.

Fear.

My power, which I had been ignoring pretty easily, swelled to the surface in response to my fear. It knew that it was my best defense. Hours of Judo. Days of punishing pull ups, flutter kicks and push-ups. But when there was a threat, the fingers of death stretched their limberness.

Gramps met my eyes as he hitched up his retarded pants and Tiff nodded. We jogged out to the front of Gramps' house (which actually looked like the back) and there stood Buddy's pals.

Brett, Carson, Diego and Brody (with that broomstick-rider, Christi hovering around), had landed like a bunch of misplaced losers on Gramps' driveway.

"Trick-or-treat, Hart," Carson said, his mask an artfully done clown. Even I thought it was creepy. I looked over my shoulder where Jade and Tiff stood together. But Tiff's eyes were glued on Diego.

He wore a gnome mask.

How had that prick known?

Tiff was never scared, she was the bravest person I knew. Including guys.

The Parents cruised up with Bill, Gramps standing sentinel in front of the loose group of adults. His arms were crossed over his chest and he said, "Until I see the whites of your eyes, I'm not interested in you on my property."

Carson stepped forward toward Gramps and he loosened his arms by his sides, swinging slightly. He was ready. And I was sure that they were not ready for Gramps.

Jade came up behind me and said something in my ear.

"Shh... not now, Jade."

Should've listened.

Onyx was suddenly behind me, greeting someone.

I turned. The Skopamish had arrived.

So much for control.

I turned to John. "What were you doing?"

"There was no way, Caleb," Terran said, shrugging, like, who could keep these charmers in the ground?

Right.

"We have come to offer assistance, Master," the Chief said.

Wonderful.

The three of the Skopamish did a nonchalant circle around Carson's group. One of the Skopamish's eyes lit on Christi speculatively.

Dad crossed his arms over his chest. "I thought we were working on better control, Caleb?"

I could feel a flush rising to my cheeks in embarrassment.

Mom sighed.

"Put a cork in it Kyle. Reprimand all you want later. Right now we have the pesky little problem of these cowards having the brass cajones to show their sorry faces on my property." He looked at them and paused. "Not really, they've got said faces covered with masks. It makes more sense, that."

Archer looked miserable, his attackers squaring off with his brand new group and their reason for the attack hanging like an awkward cloud in the air.