This one is for my incredible partner in writing and crime (see what I did there?). Sammy's birthday is October 26th and since I didn't have Wednesday the 26th and I really, really love Halloween, this story is her 'present'.

Sammy, you are one of the most incredible people I've ever known.

Brilliant.

Funny.

Compassionate.

And I've learned so much by being your friend.

Your friendship makes me a better person. Making a new friend that you instantly bond with at our stage of life is rare, having one become family is like a lightning strike. Ilna and I love you (lightning struck twice) and your ability to make us laugh and always be there to lend an ear and send love and hugs makes every day better.

I wish you a year and a lifetime of happiness, health, love and laughter.

Many happy returns. Love you (Slove you even) and there's always a seat next to mine in the handbasket.

ANs at end

Happy Halloween

"Have fun, sweetheart!" Catherine waved at the Skype screen while Joan blew kisses.

"We miss you, Joanie, but Aunt Catherine and I will see you real soon." Steve grinned at the adorable image of their niece who, dressed in her Tinkerbell costume, had begun the call by saying, "I'm not scary, Unca Steve! I'm Tink!" and ohhhed over Cammie's 'pwetty' Halloween collar.

"Text me pictures, Mary," Catherine reminded her sister-in-law as Joan bobbed excitedly in her arms and blew more kisses.

"Trick or Treat! I got caaaaaandy!"

"Lots and lots of it." Aaron took the squirming three year old and kissed her cheek. "She was the cutest one at the preschool Trunk-or-Treat by far," he told Steve who nodded matter of factly.

"Of course she was. Smartest, too, right?"

"Absolutely," Aaron agreed as Mary and Catherine shared a grin.

"We need to take the cutest, smartest Tinkerbell and get going, tell everyone we said, 'Happy Halloween' and we'll see them soon."

They were headed to Aaron's company Halloween family fun party. The trio, dressed as Captain Hook, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell cut an extremely cute picture and Catherine could see the look on Steve's face as he watched his sister looking every inch the happy mom ready for a family outing. She slid an arm around his waist and he smiled.

"Aaron?" he said with a smirk. "You may be a pirate but excellent job avoiding tights."

Mary snorted a laugh and after another round of goodbyes and blown kisses, Steve and Catherine ended the call and went to don their own costumes.

After trick-or-treating, Danny, Gabby, Chin, Leilani, Kono and Adam were ready to go to the haunted house with the older kids. Dylan was particularly excited to see what the haunted house Cody, Casey and their friends had raved about the previous year was like.

He was excited with the way his super secret costume, an 'upside down guy' that featured an old pair of Chin's pants worn over his arms with his head in one leg had turned out. A shirt was worn as pants with an inverted mannequin head duct taped into the collar. Finally, old shoes on his hands and gloves taped to his sneakers completed the look that'd had ohhhs and ahhhs coming from his classmates in the school trunk-or-treat and costume reveal that afternoon.

Jenna smiled warmly, thanking Chin as she hugged her innovative middle child. She was proud of his efforts, but even more proud of how he was gaining more and more confidence with each project he and Chin undertook. Whether it was a secret costume creation or a day learning how to man a small craft - a Kelly cousin's fishing boat - Dylan was always so eager to soak up new knowledge from their task force family it never stopped a tiny bit of awe how incredible the relationships forged less than two years before had benefited everyone involved.

As Dylan and Casey finished cleaning the kitchen, and Cody and Jess took the pizza boxes out to the recycling bin, Jacob and Kaitlyn were loading the dishwasher under Grace's watchful eye. The two youngest kids were going to the Halloween festivities in the park since they were geared towards younger children. There was a kid-friendly 'House of Haunts', food stands, a trunk-or-treat type area set up by local businesses for vacationing children and their families to join in with locals, and vendors selling local artists' offerings. There was even a make-a-craft booth area and a story time set up by the library, and a costume parade complete with prizes sponsored by the chamber of commerce.

While everyone had been trick-or-treating and again during dinner at the beach house, Jacob had checked several times that Steve and Catherine were still coming along to the park. Now, as the group prepared to split up and meet back the the house for dessert and candy sorting later, his smile was huge and infectious as he bounced in place, nearly dislodging the cardboard fly wings on his back and the band around his head with huge fly eyes.

"Aunt Catherine, you and Uncle Steve are still coming with me and Kaitlyn and Mom, right? 'Cause they're gonna have pumpkin cookies and apple cider donuts and apple cider to drink and the costume parade for kids."

"Of course, we can't wait." Catherine smiled. Since Danny, Gabby, and the other adults were going with the older kids, she and Steve had immediately decided to accompany Jenna and the two youngest children.

When they were outside and on their way, they exchanged a smile at his higher than usual, even for Jacob, level of exuberance. "There's a kid haunted house at the park, remember?" he said with a tiny hint of pleading while he took Catherine's hand for the walk. Slipping his other hand into his mother's, he looked up with pleading eyes. "Can we go?" Glancing over to where Kaitlyn was walking hand in hand between Steve and Jenna on her other side, he added, "If you come in the haunted house, Uncle Steve, it's not even going to be scary." He grinned at his sister. "No ghost could scare Uncle Steve. He's the boss of the task force, he'd put 'em in jail." He let go of the adults' hands to swing a punch at the air and do a few kicks before taking them up again. "Can we go, Mom?"

Catherine looked at Jenna just as a concerned, "Mom?" left Kaitlyn's lips.

"How about this? Jacob, you can go in with Uncle Steve and Aunt Catherine and Kaitlyn can stay outside with me. We'll check out the craft booths and have an apple cider munchkin while we wait. How's that sound?"

Jacob hooted and let go again to fist pump the air while Kaitlyn grinned and nodded, relief in her eyes. "Good!"

"You know what?" Catherine said. "Maybe you and your mom can pick up some donuts for us to take back to the house. Then we won't have to wait in line when we're done. Sound like a plan?"

"Sounds like a perfect plan," Steve added. "Aunt Catherine loves apple cider donuts." He winked.

"Hey," she teased, "not as much as you do. And I offered you that last one."

"Yes, you did." He told the kids, "Back at the Naval Academy, our friend's grandmother sent all these apple cider donuts and he shared them with us. I'd never had one before. Anyway, Aunt Catherine knew I liked them so one weekend a few years later we were on leave in Groton, Connecticut and she bought a half dozen."

Catherine laughed. "And you ate four."

"Four whole donuts?" Jacob's eyes grew. "The big ones?"

"Yep. And I offered him the fifth but he wanted me to have it." She grinned. "At least he said he did."

"I absolutely did." Steve smiled at the memory of her polishing off two huge donuts while walking through town. "I was just surprised you ate both of 'em so soon after dinner."

"I needed to keep my energy up. We'd had a … busy morning and skipped breakfast. And dinner the night before," she said lightly, but glanced at him with a smirk before turning her eyes back to Jacob and Kaitlyn.

"Jacob would eat four donuts if Mom didn't stop him." Kaitlyn giggled. "Right?" she asked her brother.

"I could eat at least two big donuts tonight," he said with a definitive nod.

Jenna smiled. "Oh, I bet you could, but we're not going to find out. Because after we get home and have dessert, everyone gets two pieces of candy once we sort it and we don't want to end Halloween with any tummy aches."

As they entered the park area two girls, clearly sisters who were dressed as Anna and Elsa, came up to them. The older one said "Hi, Kaitlyn! Are you going to be in the costume contest?"

Kaitlyn grinned. "Yeah. My brother is, too."

"That's a really good costume. You could maybe win one of the prizes." The little girl who was holding her sister's hand said. "Hi Jacob. Hi, Lieutenant Catherine, hi, Commander Steve," She grinned at them. "Hi, Jacob's mom."

"Hi, Paola," Catherine and Steve said together. She was in Jacobs's class and they knew her from their visits.

Jenna smiled. "Hi, girls. Wow, don't you look beautiful?" She looked over their heads. "Where're Mom and Dad?"

"Mom's changing our sister. Daddy's right there." Paola pointed to a man approaching from a few feet away dressed as a Kristoff.

"I'm going in the haunted house!" Jacob announced to his classmate. "Are you? Uncle Steve is comin' so no ghosts will bother us."

"Yeah! I'm going in with my Daddy. Mommy's gotta stay out here 'cause Gigi's too little."

Kaitlyn's friend, who's name was Lola, shrugged. "I'm not goin' in. I'm staying with my mom. I don't like stuff jumpin' out at me."

Jenna placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder and smiled when Kaitlyn said, "Me, either. Me and my mom are going to look at the craft booths and have a donut instead. Our family went to the really scary haunted house with my brothers and sister, then we're all having dessert and sorting our candy at Aunt Catherine and Uncle Steve's. We're buying donuts to bring home, too."

When the girls' mom, who Jenna knew from school activities and conferences joined the group, she offered to take the baby and Lola with her and Kaitlyn so both parents could go in the haunted house. She introduced them as Chrissy and Javier Escobar. Chrissy was dressed as Olaf in a white hoodie and pants decorated to depict the snowman. The baby in her arms was adorably attired as a tiny snowflake.

"You're sure?" Their dad looked like he didn't want to put her out.

"Babe? Jenna's got three more kids." His wife grinned. "She can handle a brigade. Thanks, Jen, I owe ya one." She handed over the little one and turned to Steve and Catherine. "Hart to Hart, right? I used to watch that in reruns with my mom, it was her favorite. You guys look great."

Catherine laughed. "Thanks. Steve's happy anytime he can get away with a suit for Halloween. Even an 80's one."

"Nothing wrong with that." Javier glanced down at his own attire with a smirk as Steve offered his hand to the couple. "Nice to meet you."

"My mom loved Hart to Hart so much, my sister's name is Jennifer. After Jennifer Hart." Chrissy grinned. "I used to bust mom until she told me if I was a boy I was gonna be Jonathan."

"That's adorable." Jenna smiled. "She loved her TV, huh?"

Javier smirked. "Ask her who she's named after?"

Chrissy elbowed him. "Mom's favorite comedy was Three's Company."

At Steve's blank look she added, "Suzanne Sommers played a ditsy blond in a show with John Ritter," with a shrug.

" 'Scuse me. Mommmmy, can we go please?" Paola had grown tired of waiting and looked up with begging eyes. "I wanna see the ghosts and zombies."

Chrissy took her middle daughter's hand and looked at Steve. "This one'll apply for the task force some day." Jiggling their joined hands, she said, "No fear." Paola gave him a toothy grin when her mom added, "Let's go!"

Jacob fist pumped the air. "Let's go!" he repeated and took Catherine's hand. Looking up at her, he nodded toward their clasped fingers and said, "Just in case you get scared. We can all hold hands."

Sharing a look with Steve she ruffled the short blond hair affectionately. "Thanks, Jacob." She passed Steve the tickets and slipped her free hand in his. "Ready, Commander?"

Steve grinned and whispered, "I'm pretty sure Aunt Catherine can take on any ghosts, but thanks for looking out for her." He kissed her cheek. "Ready, Lieutenant."

Jacob beamed and tugged both adults toward the entrance.

At the ticket booth, Steve handed theirs to one of two boys about Cody's age who was manning the entrance. The attraction was designed, built and run by past and present students from several youth organizations as a fundraiser. The kid smiled, put them in a cash box and looking up, did a double take. "Dude," he whispered and nodded to his friend.

"Hey, you're that bad a … uhh," he glanced at Jacob and winced. "You're the head of the task force. I seen you on TV a bunch of times." His eyes flicked to Catherine. "You, too, ma'am. And my mom watched the thing on the news about your wedding."

"I was the ring guy!" Jacob announced and thrust Catherine's hand forward to display her rings.

Both teens grinned. "Cool." The first boy stamped all their hands. "Your admission comes with a free treat, just show 'em the stamps at the guest booth by the exit." He bent to Jacob's level. "You keep the commander and lieutenant from getting scared, okay?"

"The ghosts are gonna be scared of Uncle Steve and Aunt Catherine," he said with assurance.

The kid laughed. "I bet they are. Have fun."

They entered together through a heavy black drape and one room in, after she'd whispered, "It's all pretend, remember, hon?" Jacob had let go of Steve's hand and was walking through the nearly dark area with both arms firmly around Catherine's waist.

As they made their way through various rooms of flashing lights, fog, special effects, and not-too-scarily made up teenagers, Catherine grinned at how even when most of the other adults in the attraction were jumping at the sudden, unexpected moves, she and Steve never blinked or flinched. By the time they'd reached the exit, Jacob was holding both their hands once again, clearly confident the 'ghosts and zombies' were focusing on the adults. Most of the six to eleven-year-old crowd was laughing at their parents' exaggerated reactions by the final room which was brightly lit and filled with a glass and mirror maze

At the exit, they followed Jacob and met up with the Escobars at the guest booth where everyone got a mini coloring book with four skeleton-shaped crayons, a glow-stick bracelet, or a pack of three Halloween tattoos. Knowing Jacob, Catherine suggested, "One of each, please," and handed all three to him as soon as they stepped away from the line.

"Ohhh, which one should I pick?" His eyes widened.

"You can have them all, sweetie." She smiled as he ran a hand over each item.

"No, you and Uncle Steve need to keep yours." He nodded definitively and offered the bracelet to her with a smile. "You should get the bracelet, 'cause it's pretty, and Uncle Steve, you like tattoos, so you should have these, 'cause they're Halloween ones and yours aren't," he reasoned with perfect seven-year-old logic.

"We don't need to get prizes, buddy, are you sure …" Steve began but Jacob's excited expression at the treats being part of the shared experience stopped him and he grinned. "Okay, how about if you help me put them on when we get back to our house?"

"Yeah! I can help." He grinned. "You need to not make 'em too wet or they don't work right."

Steve slipped them in his pocket. "Thanks, Jacob."

"You're welcome." His smile was beaming when he turned to Catherine and held out the purple glow bracelet. "It'll match your minion ring from Uncle Steve."

She offered her wrist and let him put it on. "It's perfect." She bent to kiss his cheek. "Thank you, Jacob."

"You're welcome. And I can share the crayons and coloring book with Kaitlyn and we can make Mom a picture!"

"You're a man with a plan." Catherine high fived him and he hopped up into it. "Let's go find your mom and Kaitlyn."

They met up with Jenna and the girls who were chattering about the contest while eating munchkin sized donuts.

"Mom! Mom! It was so great! There was zombies and ghosts and a room with like a billion mirrors and all these grownups were walkin' into them, but not Uncle Steve and Aunt Catherine." Jacob looked from one to the other and smiled. "They didn't bang into not even one! We walked right past 'em all! And we all got a prize!" He held the crayons and book up. "Kaitlyn you and me can share mine and we can make you a picture, Mom. And one for Cody and Casey and Dylan. See …" he pointed, "the crayons are skeletons!"

"He insisted we each take a prize," Catherine told a proudly smiling Jenna.

"Good job." She bent to kiss him. "Sounds like you had fun. How about we all take a bathroom break and line up for the contest?"

Jacob nodded and took the offered munchkin from his sister. Popping it in his mouth he said, "C'mon Uncle Steve, let's go!" around the mouthful and grabbed for Steve's hand. Steve fell in step and was all but dragged towards the rest area.

Kaitlyn took Lola's hand and as the Escobars walked up, reached out for Paola's. "We're all going to the bathroom before the costume contest," she told the younger girl.

Chrissy Escobar said, "Come on, you're gonna need help with those zippers."

Javier chuckled. "Go. I'll wait til you come back," but his wife grinned at Jenna.

"Can you watch her one more second? She nodded to the dozing baby.

Jenna grinned. "I was going to go, too. Catherine?"

"I'm good, I took Kaitlyn last trip." She smiled.

"Then if it's okay with Chrissy…" She held Gigi out.

"Fine by me. I'm sure she's safer with a task force member than anyone else here. Besides, you loosen way up by number three, right?"

Jenna laughed and placed the baby in Catherine's arms. "So right. I was afraid Cody would get hurt if he broke into a trot." She laughed. "My little athlete, Casey, cured me of that. By the time Jacob came along, let's say it was good he wasn't my first, 'cause he ran before he toddled. Or at least that's how I remember it." Her smile was bright at the recollection.

Catherine sat on the bench Jenna had vacated and settled the now wide awake six-month-old on her lap. "Hey, you." She bounced her knees slightly and the baby smiled. "Aren't you a pretty snowflake?"

The baby's big, brown eyes tracked her and she giggled when Catherine tapped her nose. She talked to the little one and had her laughing when minutes later, Steve's voice got her attention and she looked up.

"Hey." The expression on his face made her breath catch.

"Hey," she answered softly, resting her cheek against the baby's soft curls, her eyes locked on his. Neither spoke until Jacob's exuberant exclamation of "We're all ready, Aunt Catherine!" broke the spell and they focused on the excited boy.

Catherine stood, adjusting Gigi on her hip. "Looks like everyone is." She nodded towards Jenna and Kaitlyn heading towards them with the Escobars. When Chrissy got close enough, she handed her the baby. "Not a peep. She was great."

"Looks like you're a natural." She smiled and smoothly popped her baby into a wearable carrier as Javier adjusted the straps at her sides. Not waiting for a response from Catherine, she winked at Jenna as she took Lola's hand while her husband took Paola's and led the way to the costume parade/contest with a smile.

Back at the house, Kaitlyn was first to enter. Danny had let the others in and let Cammie out for a potty break. He'd just entered the living room at hearing the door to Steve's truck when "Uncle Danny! I won!" reached his ears as she waved a $25 Walmart gift card.

A huge smile crossed the detective's face as he gave Kaitlyn a hug, careful of the old laundry basket around her waist that served as the base of her cupcake costume. "I never doubted it for a minute because that is one awesome costume!" He turned and called for his daughter who was on the deck setting up for dessert with the others. "Grace! C'mere!" He turned back to the beaming girl. "You tell Grace yourself."

Seconds later Jacob ran through the door and stopped short seeing Danny and Grace admiring his sister's prize. "Isn't that cool? Kaitlyn won! And look!" He pulled out a book of stickers. "I got stickers just for entering! And the haunted house was awesome, we weren't even scared, and I saw Paola from my class, her birthday was Wednesday and her party was Saturday and she had pumpkins on her cake. Tonight her whole family dressed like Frozen." He stopped because he needed to breathe and Danny's smile grew when after a huge breath the seven-year-old continued without missing a beat. "And wait till I show Miss Kristin I got a whole package of stickers. I'm gonna give her one."

"You, my friend, are a boy after my heart." Danny, grinning at the diatribe, held out a fist and Jacob bumped it enthusiastically. "Great job, and I bet Miss Kristin will love a sticker."

Before anyone could say another word, Jacob was off and running for the deck calling, "Cody! Cody! Kaitlyn won! And look what I got!" while Jenna's "Walking feet!" followed him through the door.

As the others gathered on the deck to sort candy into "safe/from friends and family; from people we know; and needs to be checked by an adult" piles, Grace turned to Casey who was seated next to her on the bench taking her Rosie the riveter handkerchief off her head. "I'll be right back. I'm gonna see if Auntie Cath needs any help."

"Okay, I'll grab the drinks that are out here in this refrigerator." She looked at Jacob. "Don't eat any candy until one of the adults or Cody checks it, okay?"

Cody stepped up onto the deck with Jess, both still in their simple salt-and-pepper costumes and carrying a container of ice from the garage. "I got him, Casey, go ahead."

Danny and Kono grabbed the bags and began helping sort candy while the other adults set up for dessert and Steve took Cammie for a quick run to burn off some of the energy built up by her three hour post trick-or-treating nap.

Back inside the kitchen, Grace found Catherine arranging some fresh fruit on the dessert trays of Halloween treats.

"I came in to help you." She smiled.

"Thanks, sweetie, it's pretty much ready. Wanna just grab that other tray?"

When Grace didn't move for several seconds, Catherine glanced back to see her niece with what she could only describe as a wistful grin on her face. They shared a small, special smile before grabbing the trays to bring them outside.

Laughter floated up from the crowd as they enjoyed their Halloween-themed desserts and Danny defended his costume choice. "Hey, Unlike some people, I'm not in a suit for the third year in a row." He waved a hand at his smirking partner. "Besides, Dracula had great hair. And a cape…"

"And the red lining matches Gabby's dress!" Kaitlyn pointed out. Gabby was wearing a red fringed flapper dress and matching headband.

"Very true," Jenna agreed.

She was dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, and Kaitlyn made sure to tell everyone wolves weren't really bad, just people back in the day were afraid of them.

"Future vet," Chin chuckled as Jess took a picture of him, Leilani, Kono and Adam dressed as Prince Charming and Cinderella and Bonnie and Clyde, respectively.

When the kids challenged the adults to the Halloween edition of Heads Up, Steve took Catherine's elbow and gently steered her towards the kitchen.

"What?" she asked the second they were alone.

"I promised not to ask more than once a day. I didn't ask yet." He ran a finger across her cheek.

She smiled happily. "Not so far. Still late."

He let out a breath.

"I'd tell you. Right away. Promise."

"I know. I just …" He placed his forehead against hers. "I know."

They separated slowly at the cries of, "Uncle Steve, Aunt Catherine, it's your turn!" emanating from the deck.

Kissing his cheek, she nodded. "Me, too. C'mon, Commander, we're up."

"That was fun." Catherine said as she removed the vintage, one shouldered dress and hung it next to Steve's very 1980's style suit. "Maybe I should leave the wig on?" She winked, referring to the Halloween two years ago when she mentioned how some men would probably like it if their girlfriends would leave their costumes on.

He shrugged. "Told you before, I've got no interest in having sex with anyone but you."

"Awww, thanks. Maybe me as a redhead?"

"You as you is perfect." He kissed her shoulder and wrapped her in an embrace from behind. "Besides," he gave the red, fluffy locks a gentle tug, "how long till the wig got dislodged?"

"True." She removed and tossed it on her dresser, unpinning her own hair and shaking it out.

"Much prettier." Steve spun her in his arms. "Cath?"

"Hmm? What?"

"Do you feel anything?"

Distracted by his fingers running up and down her back, she pressed against him and hummed, "You feel amazing, I've been waiting to get you alone." in his ear.

When he stilled his hands, she pulled back just enough to see his face. "What?"

"I mean do you feel … I don't know, anything?"

"Oh!" She smiled softly. "Oh, no. I feel perfectly normal." Her hands cupped his face. "I'll tell you. Everything, anything I feel, okay?"

He pulled her closer. "Good. I need to …" His eyes literally danced. "Thank you." He kissed her, then murmured against her lips, "You know…"

"What?"

"CVS is still open all night."

"Steve…" She shook her head with a smile.

"Just sayin' it's a been a long week already."

"I know. How about if I distract you?" She pulled him closer and kissed him deeply, whispered, "did it work?" and kissed him again.

When they broke to breathe he chuckled. "Nope." His expression was one of such happiness and hope she couldn't hold back a beaming smile. "But don't stop trying."

Catherine glanced over his shoulder at the drawer that now contained the duplicate onsies, each featuring Donald Duck above the phrase, I'm Mommy's Favorite Sailor written in bright, alternating pink and blue letters. Her eyes gleaming, she pulled him closer once again. "Never."

# End - thanks for reading

Author's Notes

Three of my favorite 'people' had a birthday this week. In addition to Sammy, the rest of the birthday trifecta includes:

October 25th was the 9th birthday of the best creature I've ever known. Canine, human, of any species, ever. My rescue dog MacKenzie is the kindest, sweetest, smartest soul in a furry body. It's an honor to be her human. Happy birthday to my 'pretty girl'.

Mac's birthday buddy is my amazing, beautiful cousin Patty who's been my idol and surrogate older sister my entire life. Whether it's advice on a life altering decision, a lipstick color, or a call from the store saying "buying a new suit - pants or skirt?" She's always been my go to and she has never let me down. Love you Cuz.

REALMcRollers Thank you for the even more amazing than usual feedback on SNUGGLY. Cammie loves you, too. HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all who are celebrating my favorite holiday!

Ilna, thank you for the tremendous help on this one, and especially for doing all the kid's costumes again this year! You're the bestest!

And Sammy you gave me an entire scene in your own birthday story! Thank you for being amazing yet again!