"And nobody ever saw Captain Blood again." Steve's voice was barely a whisper as he leaned down close to the four youngsters sitting at his feet. "But legend has it that, every Halloween, he comes back, looking for children to take away and eat." Steve stifled a grin at the wide-eyed gazes staring back at him.
"He eats them?" Eric whispered.
Steve nodded gravely. "They say he needs the blood of young children to stay alive." Steve leaned back as he saw Bo sneaking up behind the kids. "But you don't have anything to worry about. I'm sure he's far, far away from Salem."
As Steve finished the words, Bo pounced on the kids. "I am Captain Blood!" he yelled as he grabbed Eric and Shawn Douglas by the shoulders.
A deafening scream arose as all four kids scrambled to escape the dread Captain Blood. It only took a minute for Sami, Eric, Andrew and Shawn Douglas to realize it was only Bo. The three boys counterattacked while Sami stalked off to find her mother.
Steve laughed as his best friend was subdued by the kids. Of course, given that Bo was practically paralyzed with laughter, it wasn't too hard to capture him.
"That's not funny, Papa," Shawn Douglas scolded.
"I'm sorry, Sailor Man," Bo said as he tried to catch his breath. "But I got you so good."
Eric turned back to Steve. "Tell us another story, Uncle Steve. You tell the best stories."
"That's because he's a pirate like me." Andrew chimed in before Steve could answer.
"Uncle Steve's not a pirate," Eric said.
"Of course he is," Andrew insisted. "He's got a patch just like I do. Only pirates have patches like this."
Steve felt his heart clinch a little at Andrew's words. He knew Andrew did not mean anything by what he said, but no matter how long he had worn his patch, Steve never quite got used to the pirate references.
"Are you really a pirate, Uncle Steve?" This time it was Shawn Douglas asking the question.
Pushing aside his feelings, Steve leaned down and smiled at the boys. "Can you little dudes keep a secret?"
The three eager faces nodded, so Steve cast a quick glance at Bo and continued. "I used to be a pirate. Me and your Uncle Bo sailed all over the world together, looking for treasure."
The boys eyes widened further and they peppered Steve with questions about what treasure he had found and battles he had been in. Steve and Bo answered their questions, each trying to top the other with increasingly outrageous details. The boys believed every word of it.
"How come you're not a pirate anymore?" Eric finally asked just as Kayla walked over. She had Stephanie in her arms.
"Well," Steve began, picking Eric up and setting him on the couch. "Let me tell you a little story." He glanced at Kayla. "One day, when I was out doing pirate stuff, I met a fair maiden. Do you know who that maiden was?"
When Eric shook his head, Steve smiled and said, "Why it was your Aunt Kayla, of course."
Eric looked at Kayla. "You met Uncle Steve when he was a pirate?"
Kayla grinned as she looked down at Steve and Eric. "Yep. You could say that your Uncle Steve was quite the bad guy when I met him."
"She's right," Steve agreed. "I was one bad dude. But then I met the fair maiden Kayla and knew I had to give up my pirate ways if I was going to win her heart. So that's what I did." As Steve finished, Kayla leaned down and kissed him gently.
"Ewww." Eric grimaced as he jumped down from the couch. Calling to his cousins, he said, "Uncle Steve and Aunt Kayla are kissing."
"Ewwww!" The noise was louder as Shawn Douglas and Andrew joined in their cousin's disgust.
The noise was interrupted by Caroline announcing that the caramel apples were ready. Steve chuckled as three boys and one adult man scrambled to their feet and raced to the kitchen. Kayla put Stephanie down and the little girl daughter toddled after the boys as fast as her little legs would carry her.
"Does she even know what a caramel apple is?" Steve asked, watching his daughter run to the kitchen.
Kayla laughed as she sat down beside him. "I don't think so. She's just following the boys."
"I hope she breaks that habit before she's a teenager," Steve muttered.
Kayla laughed again. "I'm afraid it will get worse before it gets better." Then her voice grew softer. "That was quite a story you were telling Eric."
Steve grinned and reached out to stroke Kayla's face. "Every word of it was true, Sweetness."
Kayla shook her head. "I don't know about that. You were never as bad of a guy as you thought you were."
"Now who's telling stories, baby?"
Kayla leaned in and kissed him. "You're a good man, Steve Johnson. You always were." Standing, glanced towards the kitchen. "I better get over there before Stephanie gives one of those caramel apples a try. I don't think her teeth are quite up for that."
Steve watched his wife walk to the kitchen and stood up. Despite Kayla's protests, Steve knew there had been a time when he had been close to falling into an abyss from which he would never have returned. But in large part because of Kayla, he had been rescued from that fate.
"So, you must have been the Dread Pirate Steve, huh?"
Steve turned at the sound of Roman's voice. He had forgotten that Roman had been standing in the corner while Steve had been telling ghost stories.
"Something like that," Steve said, wondering where this was going.
"Well, based on the Salem P.D. file with your name on it, the name seems to fit." Roman stepped closer. "Working for Victor Kiriakis, a murder charge, an attempted murder and kidnapping charge, not to mention assorted assault and theft charges.
Steve took a deep breath and tried to control his temper. He held no illusions about his past and how it probably looked to Roman. But all of that was a long time ago.
"Did that file also happen to mention that none of those charges stuck and that until about a year ago, I was working for the Salem P.D.?"
Roman nodded. "I read your personnel file, too. Seems like, thanks to John, you got to skip most of the background checks and got accepted into specialized training." Steve did not miss the disdain in Roman's voice. "I don't plan on being quite so irresponsible as police captain."
"What's your problem, dude?" Steve snapped, unable to keep his anger in check any further. "You don't even know me."
"That's exactly my problem, Johnson," Roman hissed in return. "I can't figure out how my baby sister ended up married to a guy with a criminal record as long as my arm, and whose close friends include an ISA traitor and an imposter."
Steve wanted nothing more than to take a swing at Roman at that moment. But he could see the kids having fun out of the corner of his eye and knew the last thing anyone needed was a fight breaking out.
Taking a deep breath, Steve lowered his voice and said, "That ISA traitor is also the man Kim loves. That imposter is the man who saved all our lives on more than one occasion. I don't care what you want to think about me. But those two are good men."
"Is everything all right?"
Steve spun around at the sound of Kayla's voice. He could see the concern in her eyes as they shifted between him and Roman.
"Everything's fine, baby." Steve turned back to her brother. "Right, Roman?"
Roman stared at the two of them for a moment, then offered a grim smile. "Sure, Sis. Everything's fine. Steve and me were just getting to know each other. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go check on those caramel apples."
After Roman walked off, Kayla turned to Steve again. "Are you sure everything is okay? I saw your face while you were talking to Roman. That wasn't an 'okay' expression."
Steve wrapped his arms around Kayla and shrugged. "I told you, Sweetness. Your big brother doesn't seem to like me too much."
"Maybe I should go talk to him." Kayla started to pull away, but Steve held fast.
"No, baby. This is a party for the kids. There's no reason to cause a fuss tonight." He smiled at her. "Besides, I don't care how Roman feels about me. All I care is what you feel."
Kayla looked in his eyes. "I love you," she said.
"Then that's all that matters." Steve pulled Kayla close to him and whispered in her ear. "Now let's go see if we wrap this party up soon. I still need to show you how much I missed you while I was gone."
Kayla nodded and together they walked towards the crowd in the kitchen. He caught Roman's still-hostile look, but Steve just grinned. He had meant what he had said to Kayla. It didn't matter what Roman thought. All that mattered was that his wife loved him and he loved her more than anything.