Sammy & Ilna, I can't think of anyone I'd rather spend my favorite holiday with other than you guys, Steve, Catherine and Angie and the REAL World family.
REAL McRollers, Happy Halloween to all who are celebrating! Thanks for the love and support.
Don't miss our special BONUS story tomorrow for Halloween!
Trick or ...
Halloween 2017
When an ad for Oahu Ghost Tours popped up on her phone, Catherine smiled thinking of the text she'd received from Grace the night before.
Ghost tour awesome! Linda screamed + made ME scream - I think we scared the tour guide LOL Casey only jumped a little!
Steve joined her on the beach with Cammie in tow and sat next to her on the blanket she was lying on.
"Checking on Angie?"
He passed her one of the waters he'd brought out and she pushed up on an elbow.
"She said, 'Hi Mommy and Daddy, I'm the hit of the O Club.' " Catherine showed him her phone where the text and a photo of their daughter, who was wearing an I'm Grandpa's C.O. onesie and little white bell bottomed pants, grinned from the arms of a very proud Captain Joseph Rollins USN (Ret).
"That's … perfect." Steve snorted a laugh at his father in law. Joseph and Elizabeth had taken Angie to volunteer with them at the Pearl-Hickam Halloween brunch and he looked literally proud enough to burst.
Catherine smiled. "I just got an ad for Oahu Ghost Tours. It reminded me of …"
"The ghost tour in 2000?" he finished her sentence.
"Yeah."
"That was a fun night."
She barked a laugh. "You said it was 'over dramatic.' "
"Still a really fun night." He leaned in to kiss her.
"Because we ended up naked?" She raised her brows.
"Exactly." He huffed a laugh and stretched out beside her.
"We always ended up naked."
"We still do. But that was still a fun night. First night of stateside leave after your first sea duty." Steve ran a hand over her shoulder. "And we spent it together."
Catherine smiled. "And now all our nights are together. Which makes every one better." She pecked his lips and got comfortable, thinking back to October 2000 when they both had brief assignments near Annapolis.
Steve was in Norfolk for a briefing and extended his stay with leave because she was at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Bethesda for a short TAD following her first deployment.
They'd gone to a hotel in Annapolis that Halloween week and Catherine suggested the ghost tour since they'd taken a 'Forest of Fear' one with Carrie, John, Freddie, Kelly and a few other people during his senior year.
"You drove that poor guide crazy." She shifted to see his face.
"I …" he began to protest then sighed with a smirk. "Which time?"
"Both! The time with everyone, you didn't even blink when the chain saw guy came out. That was their big scare. They count on contagious fear, you know."
"Because it was overplayed." He grinned. "He was holding the saw so high Gracie could've disarmed him - he was that far off, leverage-wise."
"And there you go." She shook her head with an affectionate smile. "And the second time on the ghost tour … you pointed out every inconsistency."
He shrugged. "You love me anyway."
"Always and forever." She laughed. "But you can be an enigma, Commander."
"Part of my charm, Lieutenant." His grin made her laugh, thinking it was the exact same one he'd given her 17 years before.
October 2000 - Annapolis, MD Ghost Tour
"... In death, the ghost of the man who buried so many is said to be seen patrolling the gravestones on the hills beside College Creek," the guide, who was holding a lantern, said in a theatrical tone.
"That's … impossible," Steve whispered and Catherine squeezed his hand.
"Steve … shhh!"
"I'm just saying, Joe Simmons was obviously crazy but I seriously doubt the ghost of a grave digger is searching for more bodies to bury hundreds of years after he died."
She chuckled. "What about John Paul Jones' ghost asking, 'Where am I?' in the Academy chapel?"
"That's different. He's probably pissed he wasn't buried at sea." His eyes glinting in the dim light were teasing. "If you ever saw him in the chapel you could've taken him. Ghost or not."
She gave him a playful shove. "Damn right. But you should stop questioning every ghost story. I'm starting to feel sorry for the guide."
"What? They're not plausible. Besides, you're not scared either."
"No, but the stories are fun."
He nodded at two other young couples on the tour. The women were clutching their dates' or boyfriends' hands or arms. "At least I didn't bring you on a ghost tour to get to you to grab hold of me."
"Because this was my idea and …" she leaned up and whispered, "you'll never need a ploy for me to want to hold you, McGarrett."
His voice dropped. "Right back at you, Rollins."
"Good," she murmured with a wink. "As soon as the tour's done, we'll have our own private trick or …"
He squeezed her fingers with a grin and finished her sentence. "Treat."
Present
"We have a couple of hours before we need to put on costumes…" Catherine mused softly, whispering against his ear.
"You are one hundred percent right," he growled when her tongue flicked against his earlobe, catching her lips in a kiss before she could move away. "And I have a trick I wanna show you."
"Ohh is it the kind that's also a treat?" She smiled at his smirk and nod. "Then we should take this little Halloween party inside, because I can't wait to see what's up your sleeve."
"Sleeves definitely have nothing to do with it …" Steve gestured to the fact he was shirtless and kissed her before he stood to offer a hand.
When she was on her feet and in his arms, he grinned at her enthusiastic tug on their joined fingers as she headed for the house, calling, "Cammie, come!" as she led him across the sand.
Once inside she turned into his arms and kissed him passionately until they needed to breathe.
"Trick, Commander? Or…" she led, saucily.
"Treat, Lieutenant. Definitely treat."
Later that day when Steve, Catherine and Angie descended the stairs in costume, the family and friends gathered in the living room broke into ohhhs and ahhhs at the baby. While Steve wore a suit with the tie askew and shirt opened to reveal a Superman logo t-shirt and Catherine dressed in a vintage suit and glasses, Angie wore a Wonder Woman onesie with an attached cape and a soft, yellow headband printed with the iconic heroine's insignia.
"Diana Prince, Clark Kent and Wonder Woman!" Grace exclaimed. "I love it! You guys are too - sorry Uncle Steve - adorable. And look at you, Cammie," she addressed the dog who twirled excitedly. "You're so pretty in your Super Dog bandanna!"
"Catherine, you and Angie look incredible. And you," Danny scoffed at his best friend. He was dressed in a leather jacket, jeans and white T shirt, his blond hair slicked back to go with his Danny Zuko costume while Gabby wore a poodle skirt and saddle shoes a la Sandy. "Another suit. Why am I not even the tiniest bit surprised? You just wait, my friend. Wait until my goddaughter wants you to wear a costume with tights."
Steve nodded confidently. "Not gonna happen. Right, Angie?"
"Oh please, please, somebody record those words," Danny snorted. "Because I said something very similar to Sal once and then, if you recall me telling you, not too many years later I found myself dressed as Peter Pan because your niece wanted to be Tinker Bell." He pointed to a grinning Grace, this year dressed as an emoji with a yellow shirt and black leggings.
"Yeah, well…" Steve's eyes darted from his partner to Angie, adorably attired as a tiny Wonder Woman, contentedly snuggled in his wife's arms. A hint of a grin formed as he said, "Joseph never wore tights."
"True," the older man admitted. "But I did dress as bird when Catherine was two months old."
"I would very much like to see a photo of that," Danny said with a smile.
"Oh I have several," Joseph assured him as Catherine and Grace exchanged a look and said, "Only child," simultaneously.
"Let me clarify." Elizabeth chuckled. "You wore a brown sweatshirt and pants with a few feathers and a ball cap with a beak attached." She couldn't hold back a huge smile.
"Still counts as a bird." Her husband winked at their daughter. "Besides, nobody was looking at me when you were dressed in a matching outfit complete with makeup and the most beautiful girl in the world was dressed as a fuzzy yellow baby bird." He stepped over to give his daughter a kiss on the cheek and addressed Angie, "Your mommy was the cutest baby bird there ever was. Every single house we stopped at made a huge fuss," he told Catherine before glancing at his wife. "Do you remember Lieutenant Commander Bolton's daughter went inside to get her camera so she could take her picture?"
"Absolutely! You were gorgeous, Catherine, and such a good baby." She clapped and gestured for Angie, taking her from her mother and kissing her cheek. "Just like you, sweetheart. Who's grandma's very, very good girl? Angie is," she sing-songed and the baby cooed and smiled.
"Well, I think your very, very good girl is ready to go on her very first trick-or-treating adventure." Catherine looked at Jacob, clad in a homemade minion costume. "What do you say? Are you ready to teach her all about trick-or-treating?"
He lifted both arms in excitement. "Ready! C'mon, Angie! I know you're too little to eat the candy this year but you're never too small to learn how to trick-or-treat." He glanced up at Steve. "Right, Uncle Steve?"
Steve grinned and high fived the enthusiastic third grader. "Exactly right, Jacob. Let's go."
# End thanks for reading.
Stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of the costume reveals in a special bonus story for Halloween!
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