A/N: I'm back! This idea hit me 2 days before Halloween and I didn't have enough time to complete it by then, so here it is! :) Huge thank you to Henry (TeamElizabethMcCord) for all the suggestions and being my beta reader. Enjoy!
VIRGINIA, 2005
"Momma, Dadda! Whatchu gonna be for Halloween?" screeched little Jason. His tiny feet thudded against the wooden floor as he ran into Elizabeth and Henry's shared study, his backpack thumping against his back with every step he took.
"Woah, woah, be careful there, big man," Henry chided lightly, hearing his youngest child return home from a day at preschool. He caught Jace in his arms right before his face met with the ground and put him on his lap. "Try not to run around so much, kiddo."
Looking around, he realized his mother was not around. His brows furrowed slightly, "Where's Momma?"
"She's still at work; she'll be home soon." Henry smiled.
"Oh okay." Satisfied with that answer, he repeated his question. "Dadda, Miss Jones said Halloween is next week! Whatchu gonna be for Halloween?"
"What would you like to be?"
"I dunno... Oh, oh! I wanna be Dash from The Incredibles! He's so fast, Dadda!" He started making funny sound effects, bouncing up and down on Henry's lap with a determined look on his face. The McCords had just watched The Incredibles several days ago, and naturally, Jason picked out his favorite character from the movie to dress up as.
"That's a great idea! Let's tell Momma and your sisters later, shall we?"
"So, I hear someone wants to be Dash for Halloween…" Elizabeth announced to the dinner table, looking pointedly at Jason.
"Me, me! I wanna be Dash! Pretty please, Momma! Please please please!" Jason pleaded.
"Well, I, for one, love the idea! What do you think, girls?"
Alison and Stevie nodded their heads furiously, unable to speak with their mouths full of food.
"So Dadda will be Mr Incredible, I'll be Elastigirl, and Jason will be Dash. Who wants to be Violet?"
Two hands shot into the air and the girls glared at each other. "I'm the oldest, I'm Violet!" Stevie argued.
"But I have black hair like her! I don't wanna be Jack Jack; he's a boy!" Alison started to wail.
Bess's mind scrambled for an idea. "Noodle, maybe both you and Stevie can be Violet. She has two powers, so you can choose one, and Stevie can choose the other. How about that?"
"I want to have the force field thingy!" Alison exclaimed, just as Stevie said, "I want to be invisible!"
"Then that's settled!"
PITTSBURGH, 2005
The five of them arrived at the McCords' residence on Halloween. The place was already decorated in splashes of orange, purple, and black inside and out. Cobwebs and paper spiders peeped out from corners of the house, and cutout bats hung along the walls and fireplace in the living hall. All that's left were the pumpkins, waiting to be carved.
The adults supervised the kids in carving the pumpkins, letting them draw out the shapes before taking over to carve them. Alison and Stevie traced the Incredibles' symbol accurately on their pumpkins, leaving their mother beaming at them, while Jason had other plans in mind. He knitted his brows, pursing his lips as he moved his marker along the surface of the pumpkin in concentration.
Checking in, Henry asked, "Hey big man, what do you have there?"
Jason shook his head playfully, "Guess!"
"Hmm…" he titled his head, trying to decipher what the scribbles were, "Is it the mask that the Incredibles wear?"
"Dadda how did you know? You're good! Can you help me cut it, please?"
"Sure."
Moonlight soon replaced clear blue skies as the autumn sun set. People in costumes started filtering onto the streets lined with glowing jack-o'-lanterns. The McCords' living room grew with chatter while the kids got into their costumes, eager to start filling their buckets with Halloween candy; everyone except Maureen and Shane was going to trick-or-treat in the neighborhood.
"Momma, you look just like Elastigirl! Except for the hair color. But still very pwetty!" Alison quipped, flashing a toothy grin.
"Thank you, noodle," Elizabeth ruffled her hair affectionately, "you look very pretty too."
Maureen stood in one corner of the room silently, eyeing - no, glaring - at her sister-in-law across the room. How dare she saunter in every year whenever she pleased, like she was to be treated like some sort of royalty, being fawned over by everyone. And as if that wasn't enough, the way Henry trailed after her like a puppy - God, it irked her. "Should have just dressed up as Queen Elizabeth," she spat under her breath.
"Maureen!" exclaimed Henry. The whole room fell silent with his sudden outburst. Lowering his voice, he whispered harshly, "If you have nothing nice to say, can you just stay silent? The kids are here to enjoy Halloween, for God's sake."
"Oh yeah, sure. Strolling in here every single year, with your noses held in the air, as if she has to be treated like some freakin' queen. And her job in, what, CIA? I bet she tortures people, and yet, you're fine with it, even with your almighty ethics and whatnot. She has you wrapped around her little finger and you don't even see it," she scoffed.
"Maureen! Elizabeth has been nothing but humble; she has done absolutely nothing against you! You know what, that's it, we're done," turning to his wife and kids, he toned his voice down, "Come on, babe, let's go. Kids, shall we go and start our trick-or-treating?"
Stevie, Alison, and Jason, sensing the tension between the adults, quietly nodded and followed their parents out the door.
The crisp autumn air enveloped them as they stepped out.
"Babe, are you alright?" Elizabeth slipped her hand into his and rubbed soothing circles on his skin; the fury rolling off him was almost tangible.
"I'm sorry about Maureen."
"I think that's a given," she chuckled, "You said that the very first time I visited your family here."
"Right," he laughed humorlessly.
"Why don't we just forget whatever that happened and enjoy the rest of the night?"
Looking at her, the anger he held against Maureen dississipated. Smiling, he replied, "Yeah."
Laughter could be heard everywhere as the McCords visited welcoming doors. Kids from the neighborhood dressed up for the festivities, forming a parade of heroes, heroines, royalties and monsters along the streets. Henry and Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh as their children played make belief, continuously running around in circles and shooting imaginary powers at each other.
"Momma, look! I'm so fast!" Jason boasted as he dashed around the four of them.
"Yes, honey, you are. But be careful not to fall, alright?"
He said a quick "okay", accompanied by echoes of "zoom!" soon after. The girls also had fun, supporting each other's backs as they shared superpowers in their mission to get more candies.
By 9 pm, the little ones were in their parents' arms - Jason in Elizabeth's and Alison and Stevie in Henry's - struggling to keep their eyes open. They returned to Shane's house, where they were staying for the weekend, and settled the kids into their beds for the night before retiring to their own room.
Once the door closed, Henry wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling her neck. "Thank you for tonight."
"What for?" She turned around to face him, tilting his chin to meet his gaze.
"The way you dealt with the whole Maureen thing; she's always saying those awful things about you. I'll never understand how you have so much patience and tolerance for her."
"I grew up having my brother as my only family most of the time, and even then, he wasn't around a lot. Arguments can be infuriating sometimes, but at least the house isn't silent. Putting up with her is a piece of cake," she shrugged.
"God, I love you." He leaned down to kiss her, his lips dancing on hers. They blindly navigated their way over to the bed in the dark, laughing when they fell back all of a sudden.
The second part of Halloween had just begun.