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doing the rolls with more zombie-appropriate items inside. She winced, sinking her fingers into a small bowl of light pink meat with a squishing sound.
    â€œHi, Elizabeth,” said Oliver meekly.
    â€œHey,” she replied without looking up. It had been a few months since Oliver, Emalie, and Dean had needed to draw Elizabeth’s blood to perform the master location spell, but Elizabeth hadn’t exactly warmed up to Oliver yet, or to Dean, for that matter.
    â€œLooking good, honey!” Dean’s mom, Tammy, popped up from behind the counter, holding a large chocolate cake on a glass plate. “Hey, brother,” she said to Cole in her usual half-out-of-breath way, giving him a quick, one-armed hug. “Hi, Oliver.” She slid the cake down on the table. “Boy, it’s been so long since I’ve made a normal cake. I almost forgot how!” Tammy looked over at Dean and smiled. “Just good old-fashioned sugar, flour, and butter.”
    Dean smiled back. “Sounds boring,” he quipped. Oliver watched the interaction, and felt glad for it. Dean being undead was still hard on everyone, but there were moments, like right now, when it seemed to be going fine.
    Tammy checked her watch. “Now, if Mitch would just get here—”
    â€œGot ’em!” Mitch popped into the kitchen, holding a small box of birthday candles and removing a yellow hard hat as he did so. Mitch used to be an accountant. Now, in order to be on a nocturnal schedule with Dean, he was a night technician installing fiber-optic lines beneath the city.
    â€œHow was work, Dad?” Dean asked.
    â€œHah, funny night,” said Mitch, shaking his head. “Alvarez and I were putting in lines under Denny Way, and we ran into a cranky zombie pod by the new Whole Foods.” Mitch popped open the fridge and grabbed a beer.
    â€œWas everything all right?” Tammy asked, pausing in her candle placing to give Mitch a concerned look. She still worried about his new line of work.
    â€œFine, honey, fine,” said Mitch with a smile. “Alvarez didn’t get what was going on, as usual. He still thinks the zombies are homeless people.” Mitch rolled his eyes. “Anyway, once the pod calmed down, I showed them your picture, son,” he said to Dean. “They wanted to know how you kept so much of your hair.” He turned to Tammy. “You could go into business with zombie care, honey!”
    â€œMitch,” Tammy said with a sigh. She began lighting the candles.
    Oliver remembered the nights back in the winter, after Dean had first returned, when Mitch had been much less enthusiastic about his nocturnal life. He seemed to be enjoying it now. And Dean listened to his stories with undivided attention.
    The back door burst open. Tammy glanced at the clock. “Is that—”
    â€œRelax, Mom,” said Dean, all smiles as Autumn Fitch entered the kitchen. “Hey, Autumn,” he said, his voice raising ever-so-slightly in pitch.
    â€œHi, Dean,” said Autumn. “I’m not too late, am I?”
    â€œOh, no, course not,” Dean replied instantaneously. Oliver noticed Dean’s hands doing nervous gymnastics: into his pockets, back out to drum on his sides, into his pockets again.…
    Elizabeth huffed loudly.
    â€œWe should take our places,” said Tammy, picking up the cake.
    Everyone filed into the dark dining room. Tammy placed the burning cake on the table, and they all scattered around the room and into the living room beyond, finding places to hide. Oliver scrambled up to the ceiling and crouched in a corner.
    A silent moment passed, then the front door clicked open. “Hey, guys?” Footsteps creaked across the living room, clopped on the kitchen tiles, padded onto the dining room carpet—
    â€œSURPRISE!”
    The lights flicked on and everyone jumped out. Emalie’s face went white, her eyes wide. She threw her hands over