Junior frowned at Bobby over the mass of black, gauzy fabric in her lap. "It doesn't count for you to dress up as a cowboy. You're a cowboy once removed set to grow up to be a cowboy."
Bobby shot her a look. "If I can't be a cowboy 'cause I am one, then you can't be a witch." A spool of thread went whizzing past Bobby's head. "Hey!"
"If you wanna throw things at each other, go outside." Jack had walked in just in time to see the thread go flying. "Girls, d'you know where your father is?"
Junior shook her head. Jenny looked up slowly fro the dress she was carefully ruining. "I thought he was out in the barn with you."
Jack rolled his eyes in frustration.
"Hey, Daddy? Can we take one of the horses when we go trick or treating?" Bobby was watching Dr. Who while the girls worked on their costumes.
"Uh, yeah, take Nero." Frowning, Jack went back outside to find Ennis.
Bobby, Junior, Jenny, Amy, and Amy's twin elder brothers, Will and Tsali, assembled out front of Amy's house: a cowboy with his father's belt buckle, a witch in floor length black tulle and silver glitter, a tattered zombie girl, a Cherokee princess, and a pair of matching skeletons, all accompanied by a great black stallion affixed with empty saddlebags for candy.
"Aright, go, have fun, be back by eleven." Robin picked a ball of fuzz off her daughter's shoulder. "The twins are in charge. Go on."
Bobby swung himself into Nero's saddle and they all set out. With each house, Nero's saddlebags filled. A few charmed housewives even gave the stallion treats for his service to the kids.
Meanwhile, Jack and Ennis were taking advantage of having the house to themselves and being just too far outside of town for any trick or treaters to venture to their door. Just in case some intrepid candy hunters did make it that far from town, Jack had put a sign at the top of the driveway warning not to enter on penalty of haunting.
Ennis lay stretched on the couch with Jack's head on his chest and one arm around his middle. Jack pulled away enough to turn around, wrap his arms around Ennis's neck and kiss him softly.
Sometime not long after ten, the kids arrived back at the _'s house. Whooping and laughing and eating candy, they tumbled through the front door, leaving Nero stamping outside. After a short while, Junior leaned over to Bobby. "D'you think we oughta go home?"
Bobby shrugged. "Probably."
Junior, Jenny, and Bobby bid their friends goodnight and set off for home, both girls on Nero's back. Jack was on the front porch when they got to the house, leaning on the railing, watching in amusement as one of the younger cats sniffed around the big jack-o-lantern next to the door.
"Jack!" Jenny called from well across the yard, waving enthusiastically.
Jack looked up, smiled, waved back, and stepped off the porch. When the kids were close, he helped the girls down. "Christ, Jenny, your hands are freezing."
"Yeah..." Jenny giggled. "But we have lots of candy. Trick or treating with a horse is great!"
"I'm glad you had fun." Jack handed the kids their candy from Nero's saddle. "Here, go terrorize Ennis. I'll put Nero up."
Bobby took the bags of candy and grinned at his father. "Yessir."
Ennis jumped when the door banged open even though he'd heard the hollering outside. Bobby dumped the candy on the floor in front of the TV while the girls mobbed their father. When Jack came back inside, Ennis and the kids were all sitting on the floor, going through the loot. Jack joined them and immediately had a pile of toffees dumped in his lap by h is son. Jack picked one up. "What?"
Junior shrugged. "None of us like them, so you get them."
Jack made a face. "I don't like them either. Here"—he tossed a toffee at Ennis—"you take it."
The kids laughed.
"Oh, no." Ennis threw the offending candy back at Jack, earning more laughter.
Jack threw a handful of toffees at Ennis who quickly threw then back. Soon, everyone was throwing candy, shouting, laughing, eating candy, and trying to cram toffees in each other's mouths.
Eventually, the kids were chased to bed. Junior smiled at Jack while she brushed her hair. "You know, my mama would never let us stay up nearly this late."
Jack shrugged. "It's Halloween. You oughta have fun."
A/N: Just something I wrote up real quick for Halloween. This is the same AU scenario as my story Force of Nature, but set several years after the time frame of that story. This is set in 1977 or '76, so Junior is 13 or 14, Bobby is 12 or 13, and Jenny is 11 or 12.
If you have anything to say or ask, put it in a review, if it's a signed review I will respond.
Happy fic-ing and happy Halloween.