Prompt: "It's Halloween and Dan and Phil's five year-old-daughter, Emily, wants to go trick-or-treating. But that might be a problem as Dan is stuck in a wheelchair. But Phil and Emily come up with a brilliant idea."

A/N: Wrote this little thing with Bethany for Halloween! Okay, we are a bit late, but hey.. ^^
Also maybe Halloween is not a big deal in England, but we're an American and a Dane writing this ha we're useless…
Contains: Pure fluff and awwness
Warnings: Disability/wheelchair.
Phan status: Together.
Words: 1.687
POV: Third person

The Pumpkin, the Princess, and the Fairy Godmother

"Did you pick up enough sweets for the kids?" Dan asked, looking at the bag on the counter doubtfully. "I don't think this is gonna cut it…"

"Well it's not like we'll be home anyway," Phil replied, as he continued to unpack the items from the store.

"What do you mean?" Dan unlocked the wheels on his chair and rolled around to help. "I'm staying home, right?" he asked, slightly confused. That had been their plan all along—that Dan would stay home and give out candy to the trick-or-treaters who visited while Phil was out with Emily.

Phil reached down for a box of cereal and placed it on the counter. "Yeah… about that…" he began. But he was cut off when their five-year-old little daughter skipped into the room, her dress swishing as she grinned from ear to ear.

"Oh hey, princess!" Dan said cheerily. "And what are you supposed to be?"

"Guess!" She stood up straight in front of him and held her arms out to the sides to show off her costume.

Dan made a show of scanning her from head to toe and then shook his head slowly from side to side, as if he had no clue. He stroked his chin thoughtfully before answering. "Hmm… are you… an elephant?"

"No," she giggled.

"Oh. Then are you… a firefighter?"

"Noooo… Firefighters wear red. This is blue!" She pointed eagerly at her dress, as apparently her dad was also blind now.

"Right." Dan nodded his head once in response. "Oh I see." He grinned mischievously. "I've got it! You're Dumbledore!"

Emily looked up in confusion. "…Huh?"

"Dan, stop it. You're confusing the poor thing," Phil interrupted with a smile.

"What's a Dumbledore?" she asked, frowning.

"What's a Dumbledore?!" Dan asked, incredulous. "How do you not know Dumbledore?!"

"She's too young for that, Dan," Phil laughed.

"Then we've done a horrible job as parents…" he mumbled. He turned back to Emily. "Alright, I give up. Who are you then?"

"CINDERELLA!" she exclaimed, spinning around and letting her dress twirl out around her. "See?"

"Ohhh I see now…" Dan smiled at her. "You're Cinderella!"

"Uh huh. And you're gonna be a pumpkin, Daddy!" she said happily as she climbed into Dan's lap, like she had done hundreds of times before. He winced as the sudden weight landed on him.

"Careful, Emily," Phil warned, ready to pull her away. He got nervous every time their daughter did that. She was starting to get too heavy for Dan to let her sit on him anymore. But he never complained, even though Phil could see that it hurt him every time she jumped on him too fast.

"It's alright." Dan assured, and forced a small smile. "I'm fine, don't worry." Phil nodded back, for only Dan to see.

"So," Dan continued, "what's this about me being a pumpkin?"

"So you can come trick-or-treating with us," Emily explained.

"Oh, err… But daddy's not going, remember?" Dan shot a look up at Phil over his shoulder, who only smiled sheepishly in return.

"I was getting to that…" Phil said. "We thought maybe you'd like to go with us this year." He had been planning his speech all morning, sure that Dan would only need a bit of convincing to come with them.

"Oh… um…" Dan looked down at his wheelchair nervously. "I don't know… I might just slow you down," he said, even though Phil knew that was the least of his worries.

Emily's smile slowly faded away while her gaze focused on the edge of her dad's shirt instead. Phil walked closer to them and carefully picked her up and into his arms.

"I'm just going to talk to Daddy really quick, so you can go play in your room, okay? Just two minutes," he said quietly, before placing her back down on the floor. She nodded slowly in return and walked out of the room.

"You told her I was going? Phil, why would you do that?" Dan whispered once Emily was out of sight. "You know how hard that would be for me."

"Because I'm sure it's going to be fun," Phil cheered, but he was a bit nervous. The last thing he wanted was an argument on what was supposed to be a lovely day to spend with his family.

"And by 'fun' you mean like that time you took us to a corn maze and my chair got stuck in the mud, and we had to have the staff come and dig me up? Because no thank you." Dan gave a sarcastic smile, unlocked his chair and rolled a few feet closer to the TV.

"Don't be so negative," Phil sighed, following him.

"I'm not being negative—I'm being realistic," he complained. "My back is already aching, and who knows if there might be stairs, or…" He looked down at his lap and added, a bit softer, "You know, the kids might point at me and then Emily would have to see that."

"Dan, your daughter is going to be Cinderella for Halloween, and you're going to be her pumpkin carriage. You're her dad and she loves you, walking or not," Phil reassured.

"I know she does, but what if—"

"I'm sure it'll be fine. And she's really, really excited about this. I'm gonna push you two around the whole night. You don't have to do anything else besides sitting still and… well, being orange," Phil finished with a chuckle.

"You're sure?" Dan asked, sounding uncertain.

"Look, Dan.." Phil pulled out one of the chairs from the table and sat down so he could make eye contact. "She just wants to go trick-or-treating with both of her parents. She's only five years old so—" He cut himself off by with a laugh. "The only thing she cares about is how much candy she'll get."

"No, no, no, don't put glitter on the wheels! We're never going to get that off," Dan complained, trying to reach over the table to take the jar of orange glitter out of Phil's hand. But he only pulled his hand away and so Dan couldn't get it.

"Well if that's the case, I think we need some more glitter." Phil grinned and started covering a new section on the front of the wheel. He had moved the wheelchair onto the table so they could decorate it more easily, while Dan was sat on one of the dining room chairs instead.

"You two are horrible," Dan muttered under his breath, but he still had a smile on his face. All he could do was sit back and watch his family ruin his wheelchair with glitter, crepe paper, and glue. But it was worth it just to see Emily's face light up.

"What should dad be, Emily?" Dan asked his daughter, who was focused on gluing orange stars to the back of the wheelchair while Dan supported her so she wouldn't fall. "A mouse?"

"Or I could be a horse," Phil suggested. "You know, to pull the wagon."

"Conquering your fears head on, are we?" Dan smirked. Phil only rolled his eyes.

"Oh! We still need a fairy godmother," Emily said, giving Dan a glance.

"I'm already a rolling, orange pumpkin!" Dan complained and quickly tickled her on her sides, making her giggle. After all, this was her idea. "I can't be a pumpkin and wear a dress at the same time."

Emily stuck out her lower lip in a pout. "Aw… but we need the fairy godmother…"

"Well…" Dan narrowed his eyes and looked over at Phil, giving him a mischievous grin.

Phil frowned. "What? What's so funny?"

But Dan only grinned more.

"Trick or treat!"

Opening the door, an older lady poked her head out and looked kindly at them. "Oh my. Let's see… we have a beautiful princess." She smiled down at Emily. "Oh, and a pumpkin—how clever. And…. err…" She looked up at Phil, puzzled.

"And the fairy godmother…" Phil sighed deeply, tugging at his skirt, which had just caught in the bushes on the side of the path. "How does anyone walk in these things…" he grumbled.

Dan snorted out a laugh. "I'm probably the wrong person to ask."

The woman laughed at Phil. "Well you look lovely anyway, dear. It's a good colour on you." She dropped a few miniature packs of maltesers into Emily's bag.

The child spun around excitedly towards Dan. "Oh look, it's your favourite, Daddy!"

"I see. But what do you say to the nice lady?" Dan reminded.

"Oh." Emily turned back around to see the woman was still smiling kindly at her. "Thank you," she mumbled.

"You're very welcome. Have a good night then," she replied before closing the door.

Emily carefully climbed back onto Dan's lap and Phil turned the wheelchair around to start heading down the street. They slowly passed the other houses, Phil pushing the chair gently over the uneven pavement and Dan wrapping his arms protectively around their daughter as they did.

"Our house is useless compared to the others," Dan whispered to Phil as they wheeled past some displays that looked to be taken straight out of a holiday catalogue. Pumpkins, fake spider webs, and luminous decorations were everywhere. All around them, parents walked the streets with their children, just like they were doing. Perfect.

"I guess you were right," Dan went on in a small voice. "This is kinda fun." No one had pointed—no one had even seemed to notice Dan's disability for once.

"Well, I'm glad you're having fun down there." Phil's voice sounded tense, and he was obviously referring to the dress he was wearing. Dan turned his head as much he could to get a better look and choked out a small laugh at the sight of him.

"I think you look perfect, no matter what you're wearing."

Phil slowed down his pace slightly and leaned down to place his lips on Dan's for a quick kiss. Through the darkness, both their faces lit up in a smile before they continued down the road.

thend