Come All Hallows Evening or Halloween, we see Jack-o-lanterns and children dressed up as werewolves, ghouls, vampires, animals such as maybe a giraffe or a dolphin and not forgetting the occasional princesses or princes, excitedly going door to door and yelling, "Trick-or-treat!" Candles and cobwebs be it via natural means or factory-made, line houses and the streets. From porches to mailboxes overly decorated with fake spiders and skeletons. From haunted houses to bobbing apples, this is a night of dark skies and a pale moon with bags of candies as evidence of the night's hunting. Before all that though, we have here Maura Isles and Jane Rizzoli.
"Would you hand me the green crayon Maura?"
"Please Jane, it's nice to say please," she hands over a reminder along with the crayon, "And why is it you need green Jane? They are pumpkins." She continues on with her chosen colour of orange.
"Well my pumpkin looks kind of like the green goblin so," she stands to reach for the yellow crayon, "I want it to look like the green goblin."
"The green goblin who is Harry Osborne's father from the movie Spiderman that we watched two nights ago?"
"Yes Maura, and don't go saying that so loud. You'll spoil the movie for others," she looks around, "I don't want Giovanni to know we went for a movie together."
"Loudly," she offers a correction almost instinctively, "And why Jane?"
She smiles, "Yes Maura, loudly, and it's because…"
"I'm a girl?"
"No…" she looks at her incredulous, "I'm a girl too Maura. That makes no sense."
"Why then?" She stops colouring; she's hurt.
"He wanted to ask you to watch it with him…"
"Which is why..."
"I wanted to watch it with you Maura! Not with Frankie or Tommy." She grins.
She smiles, "Thank you for wanting to watch it with me Jane."
"You're my bestest friend Maura! I'll always choose you!" She holds her paper up for Maura to see.
"And look! Doesn't he look like the green goblin?"
"Pumpkins do not have a sex Jane," she assesses the picture, "But I do see the resemblance. You're very good at colouring Jane." She looks at her own pumpkin, it looks like a pumpkin.
"Yours Maura is a lovely pumpkin too!" She points at Maura's picture, "You managed to stay inside the lines. Look!" She gestures at her own picture.
"There, there and there," she points at the places where she coloured out of frame, "I'm not even half as careful as you are. I like your neat orange pumpkin Maura, very much," she nods with a smile.
"Thank you Jane," she smiles, "I like the green goblin pumpkin of yours too."
"We can get Ma to," she forgets the word, "Put the plastic over our pictures later?"
"Laminate them?"
"Yes, laminate them," she signs her name at the bottom of the page, "Now sign yours and we can go play with the blocks Maura."
"Ma! Can Maura come trick-or-treating with us tonight?"
"Sure Janie," she places Jane's and Maura's bags in the boot of the car, "But what do Mrs Isles and Maura say?"
Jane looks at Maura. Maura looks at Jane.
"I've never gone trick-or-treating before Jane. I don't know what my mother would say."
"Let's ask?" She looks hopeful.
She nods.
"Ma! May we stay a little bit before leaving to ask Mrs Isles if Maura can come with us tonight?"
"Of course Jane," she belts up and starts the engine, "And we would love to have you Maura."
"Thank you Mrs Rizzoli."
Jane squeezes Maura's hand, close to bouncing in her seat.
"We're going trick-or-treating Maura!"
"My mother hasn't agreed yet Jane."
"I'm guessing she'll say yes!"
"Well I never guess."
"I know I know. Oh, and Ma?"
"Yes Janie?"
"Can we…" she forgets the word again, she looks at Maura.
"Laminate?" Maura whispers.
"Can we have mine and Maura's drawings laminated?"
"Again Janie?"
"Yes," she looks at Maura, "Please?" She smiles. She wants all their pictures safe from damage.
"Since you said please," she pulls up at a curb, "Okay, we're here. Get your things." She turns off the engine.
"Hi Mrs Isles, I'm so sorry to intrude."
"No, no Mrs Rizzoli. Thank you for constantly offering to send Maura home. Come on in," Constance gestures welcome and sends a smile to Maura.
"They're inseparable these two," Angela laughs a little as she guides Jane in along with her, "And Jane here, has something to ask you."
"Yes Jane?" She smiles at her daughter's best friend - always the little protector. She's thankful.
"I was wondering...if Maura can come trick-or-treating with us tonight Mrs Isles? It'll be Frankie, Tommy and me. Ma usually stays behind us. Can she," she looks at Maura, "Please Mrs Isles?"
Constance has never been able to as the saying goes, let your hair down and have fun. It is not the proper lady-like way as her own mother would have said, but she's thankful that Jane here would allow her daughter her company.
"Of course Jane," she looks to her daughter, "Would you like to Maura?"
Maura looks as if she's been struck by the happy lightening. Constance feels heartache and warmth.
"Yes Mother, I would like it very much," she's bouncing on the balls of her feet, "May I?"
"Of course Maura," she squats to look at Maura, "But I don't have a costume for you. Do you think it's too late to get one?" At a loss, she turns to Mrs Rizzoli.
"There'll be enough time, don't worry. Jane here never gets her costume together until the very day anyway." Angela smiles, mother to mother, knowing.
"Can we go now Ma? Mrs Isles?" Jane walks over to Maura. Wanting to bring Maura to the car; adults have such fickle minds.
"Yes girls, you may, and have fun tonight Maura darling," Constance pats her head.
"Thank you Mother," she hugs her mother; warmth courses through them both. They don't hug often, if ever.
Jane takes hold of Maura's hand and hurries to the door. Stopping only to smile and say, "Thank you Mrs Isles!"
"No mother is perfect Mrs Isles, we all just try our best to keep our children safe and happy." Angela offers a hug.
Constance hesitates a little but she takes it. "Thank you Mrs Rizzoli, thank you."
"Call me Angela."
"Thank you Angela, and please do call me Constance."
"I'll have her home safe Constance," she goes with her instinct, "And you are welcome to join us, you know? We'll just be walking around, the children getting candy," she sees how she seems to be considering; we all just need a little push she thinks.
"And I'll be quite alone actually. It'll be nice to have an adult for company."
"Thank you Angela," she considers, "I'll love to."
"Come over at about six to seven," she smiles and heads for the car, two excited faces plastered against the windows, "We'll all love to have you."
A/N: Hi there, thank you, for the time~
I wrote it then, with the intent of being a narrator, so...have fun reading as one? Hahaha. Oh and, this is a re-upload.