It was about a week before Halloween, the Loud children were watching one of their favorite films to watch this time of year: 'Frankenweenie.' It had plenty of eerie espionage for Lucy; scientific themes for Lisa, great soundtrack for Luna, humor for Luan, animals for Lana (she always cried when Sparky got hit by that car), Lily and Leni just enjoyed the animation, a great climatic fight for Lynn. Lori would never admit it, but she though Victor looked a bit like a younger Bobby. Lincoln, well he enjoyed a pleasant mixture of all the reasons (with the exception of Bobby, obviously).
Once the film was over, Luan piped up.
"I think it's going to be a double feature night!" she exclaimed as she pulled a disc from somewhere.
"Uh, what exactly is that?" asked Leni pointing at the disc Luan had in her hand.
"Something I don't think most of us have seen," Luan replied with a mischievous look upon her face.
"If this is a real scary movie, count me in," replied Lucy with her rare smile.
"Uh, count me out, I couldn't handle 'The Harvester' and I doubt if I can handle this," Lincoln said nervously. Luna gently held his hand.
"Oh no, I wouldn't make you guys watch a horror flick, that's Lucy's job. I was just going through some old family videos and I found this, think it might be fun for us to watch it together," Luan said as she exchanged the DVD's. The screen seemed a bit scratchy at first but then it settled into focus. The children saw their mother, smiling at the camera.
"Okay, it appears that the camera's recording, that's a good thing, because this Halloween is a very special one indeed!" she said. The screen then seemed to do a 180 and then it appeared their mother was walking with the camera recording. They saw the kitchen all decked out for Halloween; they could tell she was walking into the living room. Sitting on the living room couch was Luna dressed up in hippie gear, but she was significantly younger on the screen.
"Oh yeah, I found a bunch of Grandpa Loud's old hippie stuff in the attic and I asked Dad if I could wear it for Halloween that year! Oh wait, I know what this is!" Luna exclaimed.
"Well, what exactly ish it?" asked a very curious Lisa.
"Tonight is little Lucy's first Halloween!" Luna exclaimed happily onscreen. The camera panned over, and there was a baby about eight months old, sitting on the couch wearing a spider costume. The baby laughed and clapped and started to crawl toward the edge of the couch. But Luna grabbed her and just held her up in the air.
"Eek! That baby looks so creepy in that spider costume!" exclaimed Leni.
"Leni, first of all, that's just our sister, and the spider outfit she's wearing onscreen can't hurt you now," Lynn said, almost scolding.
"That's supposed to be Lucy? But she looks so cute!" exclaimed Lola.
"Never say that again! And whose idea was it to dress me up as a spider?" asked Lucy she didn't sound amused. Lori and Luna slowly raised their hands. Back on the screen, the younger Luna was gently bouncing baby Lucy in the air, never letting go.
"The itsy bitsy spider
Crawled up the water spout
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out
Up came the sun and
Dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider
Crawled up the spout again"
Baby Lucy onscreen seemed to be enjoying this, but the eight-year-old Lucy at present wasn't.
"If this video ever leaves the house I will have Freddy Krueger haunt your dreams!" she threatened her older siblings. Just then, onscreen Luan walked on wearing a wizard's costume, complete with beard. Holding her hand was Lincoln, roughly three years old wearing his Blarney costume.
"Lori, is that the costume you said I wore for nearly a week?" the present day Lincoln asked.
"You better believe it. Once you finally agreed to take it off, Dad burned it, I didn't have the heart to tell you at the time," she answered.
"I don't mind, it was a long time ago, and I do look silly," Lincoln laughed.
"I don't know, I kind of like it," said Lola.
"Hey Lucy, would you like to meet Blarney?" the onscreen Luan asked. Luna set Lucy down, and pointed towards the little Lincoln. The younger Lincoln, smiling proudly in his Blarney costume stretched his arms out, hoping to hug his baby sister. But Lucy took one look at the green dinosaur outfit and started to cry.
"Please don't tell me I was afraid of that stupid dinosaur outfit," the present day Lucy said.
"Okay, we won't tell you," said Leni with a pang of guilt in her voice.
"Oh, it's okay Lucy, it's just your big brother wearing a costume," the onscreen Luna said comfortingly. The twins stifled a laugh. Then Lori appeared onscreen wearing a witch's costume with orange stripes on the hat. She didn't have any make-up but she did the voice well.
"How about a little fire Scarecrow?" she asked, pointing directly at the camera.
"Now Lori, don't scare the baby, she's already having trouble with Lincoln's costume," their mother's voice warned. But no, the onscreen Lucy looked over at Lori and crawled over to her. Everyone in the room stood speechless as she approached the oldest sister and made a gesture suggesting that she wanted Lori to pick her up. The onscreen Lori obliged and the two of them hugged.
"Aw, look Lucy, we bonded," said Lori cooingly.
"Guess I liked your costume," replied Lucy.
"She doesn't like Blarney but she thinks witches are cool, who would've thunk?" the onscreen Luan joked. That's when their dad walked into view of the screen carrying a Scooby-Doo mask; right behind them was Lynn Jr. dressed in some kind of Chinese outfit and carrying a mask that looked like Tigress from 'Kung Fu Panda' and Leni dressed in a princess costume.
"Oh yeah, I saw the first 'Kung Fu Panda' a few months before and I was obsessed with it! When we went costume shopping, the moment I saw they had Tigress, I immediately pointed to it!" Lynn exclaimed.
"Alright Loud family, are we ready to get our candy?" Lynn Sr. asked onscreen, putting his mask on, making sure he did that in full view of Lucy so she would understand it was just 'Daddy' under there.
"Honey, last year you dressed up as Sirius Black, this year you're wearing a Scooby-Doo mask, you're not going to the dog's are you?" Rita's voice asked.
"Well, I think someday we should get a dog. ("And we did!" Lana exclaimed proudly.) Well Lori, it looks as though you're bonding well with little Lucy," Lynn Sr. replied.
"I think she just likes my costume," said Lori, still holding the amazingly calm infant. Leni walked over and started making kissy faces at Lucy.
"I can't believe I actually did that!" shouted Leni who now had a pillow over her face. Back on the screen little Lincoln started jumping impatiently.
"When's Pop-pop coming? I wanna get my candy!" he exclaimed. Luckily, Albert came in dressed in black and holding a comical pumpkin mask.
"The Great Pumpkin has arrived!" he exclaimed. He then put his mask on in full view of the children. Baby Lucy laughed and pointed at her grandfather. Albert walked over to the baby and stretched his arms out, making it clear that he wanted to hold her. Lori handed Lucy to him, and he just held her bouncing her similarly to the way Luna had done earlier. She loved it.
"So is little Lucy ready to go trick-or-treating for the first time?" he asked.
"Now Dad, I appreciate you offering to help take some of the kids out, but she's going to have to take a nap in a little while, she's still young and someone needs to stay here and give the candy out while supervising her. Yes, that's me," Rita's voice said.
"Aw c'mon Mom, Lucy's got to be allowed to ring at least one doorbell!" said Leni before giving puppy eyes.
"Alright, one doorbell, but then I have to take her back here, maybe next year she can do more. Now comes the part where we decide who will be on each team," Rita's voice agreed.
"Oh yeah, the previous year we started splitting up in teams for trick-or-treating because we realized we could get more candy that way!" Luan remembered.
"Can I go wif Pop-pop?" asked the onscreen Lincoln.
"Yes, you may, along with Luna and Luan. Lori, Leni, Lynn you'll be going with me," Lynn Sr. stated.
"Lynn, honey, could you take the camera a moment, I'll travel with your team to the first house so I can push Lucy in her stroller, I think she'd rather travel with witch Lori," Rita said walking toward her husband, the camera still recording. The camera changed hands, and the siblings watched their mother gently take Lucy from Albert and then got the stroller ready.
"Wait! Is there more than one Lori? Is that why Mom said 'which' Lori?"
"Oh Leni," exclaimed Lynn Sr.'s voice. The video then showed the teams heading outside, everyone, even Albert, were holding trick-or-treat bags and glow sticks.
"Y'know, I think Dad was carrying a trick-or-treat bag at the time as well, I just wanted to say that," said Lynn. The teams split up, Albert's team waving goodbye and everyone's voices could be heard saying: "Good luck!"
The camera followed Lori, Leni, and Lynn Jr. going up to the first house that the siblings at present recognized as Mr. Grouse's home.
"Oh boy, I can't wait to see Mr. Grouse's face in this picture!" Lana exclaimed.
"Hey mom, if it's okay, I'd like to wheel Lucy over to the door," the onscreen Leni volunteered. Rita nodded with a smile and the kids watched their younger selves (Leni pushing Lucy in the stroller) going up to the door. Lynn Jr. rang the doorbell and suddenly a woman about forty years old answered the doorbell wearing a cowboy costume.
"Well howdy pardners! Did you kids come for some Milky Way's?" she asked in a cheerful voice.
"Aw, and you brought someone for their first rodeo?" she asked sweetly when she saw Lucy in the stroller. Suddenly a man dressed as a vampire jumped from behind the wall, his cape covering half of his face.
"It vas foolish to come here tonight!" he said in a Bela Lugosi impression. Lori and Leni jumped back, Lynn Jr. made some karate pose. The woman slapped the man upside the head.
"Hugh! The Loud family brought their new baby! Don't scare the poor thing!" she said. 'Hugh' realized his mistake and dropped his act, hands reaching towards his mouth in horror.
"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry; I didn't see that there was a baby here! Rita, Lynn please forgive me!" he said in a now normal voice. Lynn Jr. looked down at the baby in the stroller, laughter could be heard.
"No, I think she likes it!" she said. The camera rushed over to the front of Lucy's stroller, and there indeed was baby Lucy laughing.
"You're just full of surprises tonight aren't you little one?" Lynn Sr.'s voice asked before turning the camera back to the couple, they were now smiling amused.
"Oh here's an idea, turn the stroller a bit so you can see her face and mine at the same time!" suggested Hugh. Lynn Jr. spun the baby stroller around so that the side was now facing the camera, but they could still see Lucy. Hugh stepped out; facing Lucy he resumed his act.
"Vell, little spider, vould you like to come to my castle and spin a veb to trap my enemies?" he asked. Little Lucy just continued to laugh.
"I bet she would love that, but right now this little spider's got to go home and take a nap," said Rita as she walked up to retrieve the stroller. Candy was given out and the couple wished the Loud family a Happy Halloween.
"I remember the Hogarth's! It's actually a bit of a pity they moved!" Luna exclaimed right as the video stopped recording.
"Ish that the end of it?" asked Lisa.
"Not exactly," Luan replied. A few more seconds and the video resumed.
"Well Lucy, your siblings will be coming home soon, they'll be happy to give you a goodnight kiss. Then you can go to sleep good and proper," Rita's voice said as the camera looked upon Lucy, still wearing her spider costume. The door opened and in stepped Albert, taking his mask off.
"That was fun, thanks for letting me take those three out," he said.
"Thanks Dad, could you hold the camera a moment, I want to be in the last few shots. Albert clearly took the camera as the siblings could now see Rita holding baby Lucy. Luna stepped in first, carrying a now-sleeping Lincoln. The twins both made 'aw' sounds. Luna just smiled and patted Lincoln on the back he smiled back at her.
"This one fell asleep before the last house, but I made sure to get him that last piece of candy. I'll tuck him in," she said before gently kissing Lucy on the forehead. Then Luan came in grinning from ear to ear and she kissed Lucy on the forehead. Shortly after she started going upstairs Lynn Sr. came in with the rest of the girls.
"Girls, come give your baby sister a kiss goodnight," said Rita. But Leni took one look at Lucy and ran straight up the stairs without another word.
"What's with her?" asked a confused Rita.
"Oh, one of the houses we visited had a giant spider, once we rang the doorbell, it fell directly on her and she freaked out," Lynn Jr. laughed. Lori then kissed Lucy and then the video stopped recording.
"So that's why I'm afraid of spiders!" exclaimed Leni.
"Of corshe, a tramautizing experience like that would have serioush conshequenshes on someone of your intellect," Lisa grumbled.
"That was the most embarrassing experience I have ever had to sit through!" exclaimed Lucy bitterly.
"Embarrassing? While our two oldest siblings were afraid of the vampire, you showed no fear!" Lana retorted.
"Yeah, and I think it's great going down memory lane with all of you," Lincoln added. Everyone else nodded.
"Yeah, it's actually amazing seeing all of you before we came into the picture," said Lana. Everyone laughed and then headed upstairs, Lisa volunteering to tuck Lily in. Luan made sure to take the disc so Lucy wouldn't be tempted to burn it. Lucy then headed up to the attic.
"I'll be in a little later Lynn, don't lock the door," she told her roommate.
"Never do," Lynn replied. Lucy went up to the attic, went to a particular corner and pulled a loose floorboard up. Under the floorboard was a small envelope. Inside the envelope was a series of photographs. The first one she looked at was a picture of her two-year-old self, wearing a black cat costume, sitting in Luan's lap (Luan was wearing a Joker costume).
The second one she looked at showed her at about a year old dressed as a bat, in the photograph was Lincoln dressed as a pirate and Lori dressed as a geisha. Then she looked at a picture of her mother, pregnant, with a pumpkin painted on her belly. Another photograph had Lincoln dressed as Ace Savvy and herself as a vampire. She liked this photograph, and wondered if Lincoln knew she had a hard copy of it.
Looking at the hole in the floor again, she pulled out two more items: her old cat and bat costumes.
"I wonder if we could get Lily to fit into either of these," she said still smiling, and then turned towards the audience.
"What? Even I can be sentimental at times, just don't tell my sibs."