Notes: Thanks to Mari and Sammy for being their awesome selves.
Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support. Hope you enjoy this bonus sequel to Costume Reveal … even if it is now the day after Halloween :-)
Halloween Fun (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
"Remember, Angie," Jacob said when they rang the doorbell at the Kayamas' house next door to Steve and Catherine's. "When they open the door, we all say 'Trick-or-treat!' "
"Eeet!" Angie said, shaking the small plush pumpkin basket she held in both hands. The original plan had been for her to ride in her small stroller from house to house, but as soon as she saw everyone else walking, she had squeaked and squawked until she was let out to walk with them.
Kathy Kayama opened the door and immediately smiled. "Ohh, look who it is!" She called back over her shoulder. "Frank, come here! It's the Allens and little Angie!"
When Frank joined his wife, the group chorused, "Trick-or-treat!"
"You all look fantastic!" Kathy said as she opened the door and began passing out candy.
Angie looked down at the two pieces that Kathy placed in her pumpkin and back up at the friendly neighbor. "Coo-kie?" she asked hopefully.
"No cookies, Angie," Kaitlyn said from her other side. "We get candy on Halloween. That's the 'treat' in 'trick-or-treat.' "
Angie blinked up at her then looked back at Kathy and Frank. "Eet. Coo-kie,"
she stated.
"Well, we know what your favorite treat is, don't we, little darling?" Frank said with a grin.
"That's absolutely her favorite treat," Catherine said from behind the row of kids. "No cookies tonight, honey. Tell Mr. Frank and Ms. Kathy thank you for the candy that Daddy's probably going to eat."
Steve grinned at the Kayamas. "You got something good, right?"
"M&M's and Skittles," Frank said.
"Nice," Steve replied, nodding approvingly.
Frank and Kathy spent a few minutes admiring the group's costumes before saying their goodbyes.
"Have fun tonight!" Kathy said with a wave.
"Thank you!" the kids and teens called as the Kayamas closed their door.
"Okay, time for the next house," Kaitlyn told Angie, motioning for her to follow the group down the walk.
Angie made it a few steps and then purposely plopped on the grass and put her pumpkin basket in her lap. She took out the small bag of M&M's and grinned, holding it up proudly for everyone to see.
"That's great, honey," Catherine said. "Come on. It's time to go to the next house."
Instead of getting up, Angie set the bag of M&M's on the ground beside her, then took out the little bag of Skittles and held it up as well.
"And Skittles," Catherine said. "I know. Let's go see what the next house has."
"Come on, honey," Elizabeth said cajolingly.
"Yeah, let's go!" Jacob encouraged.
Ignoring their entreaties, Angie set the Skittles down and picked up the M&M's, putting them back into her basket, followed by the Skittles. Then she pulled them out again, one by one.
"This is one of her current favorite activities," Steve explained, scratching the back of his neck. "We could be here a while. Hey, Angie, come on, there are more houses to go to."
"No," Angie said without even looking up, concentrating on methodically taking the candy out and putting it back in her basket. "Ah my yo."
"You all go ahead," Steve said to the others. "We'll try to get her in the stroller and catch up."
Steve, Catherine, and Elizabeth remained with Angie while the rest of the group headed for the next house. Cammie came to sniff the ground where Angie was sitting.
"Caa-mee!" Angie said happily, holding the M&M's bag out to her furry family member.
"Ah, ah, ah," Catherine said, gently preventing the exchange. "That's nice that you want to share with Cammie, but M&M's aren't good for her."
"Come on, Angie," Steve said, scooping her up in his arms. "Let's keep trick-or-treating."
She squealed as he tickled her side before buckling her into the small, lightweight strolled they'd brought. When she started to protest, he said, "You're okay. You can still play with your treats while you ride in the stroller. And this way it won't take all night to go to two houses."
"Coo-kie?" she asked and he chuckled, shaking his head.
Catherine grinned. "One track mind."
"I think I might have a cookie for you at home with Grandpa and Grandma Ang after you trick-or-treat at a couple of houses," Elizabeth said.
"Coo-kie?" Angie said, brightening.
"Yep, so let's catch up to everyone else, okay?"
"Yay!" Angie said, flinging her arms into the air. Her pumpkin basket and both treats flew out of her hands. "Uh oh!" she said, looking around.
"I've got them," Elizabeth said, already bending to pick them up.
Steve exchanged a look with Catherine. "We're just doing, like, three houses, right?"
Catherine laughed, shaking her head at their daughter's antics, both the accidental and intentional. "Five at the most."
Angie lasted for three more houses, asking for cookies at each, before heading home with Catherine, Elizabeth, and Cammie while Steve stayed with the rest of the group to continue their trick-or-treating.
"Where's Jess tonight?" Kono asked Cody as they walked along the street.
"There's a Halloween party at the family service center where she works part-time, so she's helping out with that," he said.
"Oh, I don't think I knew she was working there," Leilani said. "How long has she had that job?"
"Just about a month. She really likes it. They do a lot of the advocacy work that she's interested in."
"That's great," Kono said. "She's getting experience while helping people who need it."
He nodded, a proud smile on his face. "Exactly."
"So Kaitlyn," Chin asked, "did you end up having a birthday party for Midnight today?"
"Yeah!" she said excitedly. "Before we came over for trick-or-treating. He didn't really like the hat Grace and I made last weekend for him. He kept batting it off his head when I put it on him." She laughed. "Kind of like how Angie doesn't like anything on her head either."
Steve chuckled. "You're right about that."
"And I made Midnight a tuna fish cupcake," Kaitlyn continued. "He really liked that."
Danny made a face. "Now I don't mind tuna fish, but a tuna fish cupcake? No, thank you."
"It wasn't too bad," Dylan said, his t-shirt lighting up his face as he spoke.
"Oh, man, you ate one?" Jadon asked. "A cat cupcake?"
Dylan shrugged. "Why not? It's just tuna."
"Tuna in cupcake form? That's just wrong, bro."
"I agree with my impersonator over there," Danny said.
"Hey! It's the spooky house!" Jacob called, picking up his pace as he spotted the house with gravestones in the yard, cobwebs on the porch, and boarded up front windows. A fog machine let out a burst of fog as they approached, obscuring the man dressed as a skeleton who stepped forward with a cauldron of candy. "You're a skeleton again!" Jacob cried.
The man laughed. "You say that every year." He shrugged. "What can I say? I like this costume. What are you this year, my friend?"
"I'm my big brother," Jacob said, pointing back to where Cody stood with the other adults.
"Nice," the man said, holding a fist for a bump. "Gotta respect that." He passed out candy to Jacob, Kaitlyn, Dylan, Grace, and Casey who all thanked him.
"Your house is always the coolest," Dylan said.
"Totally," Casey agreed.
"Thanks," the man said genuinely. He pointed. "Did you see I still have the headless figure in the yard? I got that idea from your costume a couple years ago, dude."
Dylan grinned. "Yeah, that's so awesome. I love how he's holding his pumpkin head."
As they talked for another minute, the adults looked on at the base of the driveway.
"Do you remember how scared Kaitlyn was the first year we came trick-or-treating here?" Jenna asked. "Now look at her. Doesn't even faze her."
"She's grown a lot," Kono said. "Really become her own person. I think that always helps make a kid more confident."
Jenna nodded her agreement. "And part of that is growing up, but part of it is also the support she gets from all of you."
"And most especially you," Danny said, giving her a meaningful look.
Cody reached over, squeezing his mother's shoulder. She smiled at him, patting his hand.
"Hard to believe it's been three years since you all first came over here to trick-or-treat," Steve said.
"And now it's pretty much a given," Jenna said. She smiled. "Who would've thought, huh?"
"And who would've thought Steve McGarrett would wear a costume for Halloween all of those years?" Chin added, grinning.
"Let's not go crazy here," Danny said, gesturing with his cane. " 'Costume' is a bit of a stretch."
"What?" Steve said. "I've worn a costume every year since Gracie's Halloween party."
"You wore a suit the last three years and now you have on an old football jersey and shorts. That barely qualifies as a costume. It's entirely possible that you'd wear that in the evening even if it wasn't Halloween."
Steve grinned. "Just because I'm smarter than you about costumes …"
Danny shook his head knowingly. "Just you wait, my friend. In another year or two, Angie will have figured out what's really going on on Halloween and she's gonna turn those big, hopeful eyes on you and … bam! You'll be in tights."
"That is never gonna happen," Steve said firmly.
"Never say never, my friend. Never say never."
"Jacob, I'll trade you a package of Starbursts for your box of Nerds," Dylan said, holding up the small yellow package."
"No way!"
"How 'bout two packages …?" Dylan amended, wiggling them temptingly.
Jacob bit his lip. "Two packages of Starbursts and one roll of Smarties," he said finally.
"Done," Dylan said, and the swap was made.
Jacob, Kaitlyn, Dylan, Casey, and Grace were sitting around the dining room table at Steve and Catherine's engaged in the post trick-or-treating tradition of trading candy back and forth after it had all been checked for safety.
Chin and Leilani had made their farewells after the group returned to the house so they could attend a get-together thrown by one of Leilani's friends, and Kono had left to meet Adam at the airport. Jadon headed out in a white tank but still wearing his tie after returning Danny's button-down shirt. The remaining adults sat around Steve and Catherine's living room chatting and occasionally listening in to the deals being made in the other room.
"Kaitlyn, I'll trade you a bag of Skittles for an Almond Joy," Grace said.
"Ohh, yes! I love Skittles!" came the immediate reply.
"It's wonderful that Grace and Casey wanted to come with the family again this year," Elizabeth said. "They're sixteen now. I wouldn't have been surprised if they wanted to hang out with friends instead."
"They both genuinely love hanging out with everyone," Jenna said.
Gabby smiled. "And it helps that they already went to a big Halloween party at a friend's house over the weekend."
Jenna chuckled. "That does help."
"Jacob, I'll trade you a Reese's for a Butterfinger," Casey said.
"Okay!" Jacob said excitedly, passing over the fun size candy and doing a little chair dance with his new Reese's peanut butter cup, a favorite of his.
Jenna glanced over at Cody who was sitting on a folding chair brought in from the garage. She smiled at the rest of the group. "Cody used to make the most trades when the kids were younger," she told them. "And somehow his bag ended up with all the candy his siblings didn't like. Whoppers, Charleston Chews, Heath bars, Good & Plentys, Bit-o-Honeys, Tootsie Pops, Necco wafers …"
"Now that doesn't surprise me at all," Steve said.
"Nope," Danny agreed.
Cody looked down a little sheepishly. "I didn't realize I was that obvious."
She smiled softly. "Not to them, maybe, but I knew." She looked over toward the trading table. "And I have a feeling they caught on eventually, too."
"No wonder Jacob wanted to dress as you this year," Joseph said, raising his cup of decaf coffee in Cody's direction.
Cody shrugged. "It was just candy."
"Not only because of the candy, that's just one of a thousand examples," Joseph said.
Steve nodded. "Exactly."
Cody looked at him. "I bet you did the same thing."
When Steve didn't immediately answer, Catherine said, "He did. Mary told me."
"Yeah, but I wasn't quite as selfless," Steve said. "I always made sure to save a few Snickers and Twix bars for myself. And I also only had one sibling to trade with."
"But still …" Cody said.
They stopped at the sound of chairs scooting back on the floor and looked over to see Jacob, Kaitlyn, Dylan, Casey, and Grace headed toward them, candy in hand.
"We all wanted to share our candy with you," Kaitlyn said.
"Yeah!" Jacob added with his usual enthusiasm.
" 'Cause it's really awesome that you all dress up and go trick-or-treating with us every year," Casey continued.
"Yeah, and we set aside some candy for Uncle Chin and Aunt Kono and everybody to thank them, too," Dylan added.
"And since we know all your favorites …" Grace said. She nodded to the others as their cue, and they walked around the circle of adults, passing out certain pieces of candy to each.
"Thanks," Steve said when they were finished. "This isn't necessary, but thank you."
" 'Isn't necessary'?" Danny repeated. "Speak for yourself. I'll take my tips in candy anytime."
"And this way you won't have to swipe pieces out of my bag, Danno," Grace teased.
He balked. "I would never … do that while you were looking," he finished, grinning.
Everyone laughed.
"Well, Jacob," Steve said, smiling, "I think the only thing left to do is pronounce this Halloween the …"
Jacob obliged with a grin. "The best Halloween ever!"
Hope you enjoyed!
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