Notes: Thanks to Mari and Sammy for the endless excitement and joy. I'm so excited for the second Halloween in the REAL World!
Readers and REAL McRollers – Thank you for your wonderful support and feedback. It's appreciated every single day. Stick with us, we have lots more planned for Steve and Catherine!
Hope you enjoy!
Softie (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
Dylan smiled when he opened the door and stepped back so Steve and Catherine could come into the house where the entire Allen family was hard at work with Jess in the living room.
"Hi, Uncle Steve," Dylan said. "Hi, Aunt Catherine."
"Hi, Dylan," Catherine replied.
"Whoa," Steve said, his eyes widening as he looked around the room.
Catherine grinned. "Did we take a wrong turn and end up at Michael's?"
Jenna laughed from her spot on the floor by the coffee table with Jacob. "Hey, come on in. Excuse the mess, we're making decorations for the house."
Catherine stepped further into the room so Steve could close the door behind them.
"Look, Aunt Catherine," Jacob said, holding up his project. "It was a big garbage bag but we cut it up to be a spiderweb!"
"Neat," she said, coming over to hold one end of the black plastic so they could stretch it out and see the full-size.
He pointed to the ceiling in the corner of the room. "We're gonna put one over there, and one over there, and one over there . . ."
"And what do we have here?" Steve asked, moving to where Cody was on top of a step stool with Dylan and Casey around him.
Casey handed Cody a small piece of mounting putty so he could hang one end of a long orange and black paper chain on the wall.
"We cut out pumpkins and ghosts and bats and stuff to go on the chain," Dylan said, holding the other end. "See?"
"And we're making a pumpkin wreath for the door," Kaitlyn said from the couch where she and Jess were tying orange and green tulle to a styrofoam ring.
"What a great idea," Catherine said.
"It was all Jess," Jenna said, standing up. "She came up with a bunch of great crafts."
"My mom's a teacher," Jess said. "I've been helping her decorate her classroom for years."
Cody looked over from on top of the stool, smiling at her.
Steve chuckled, folding his arms. "Maybe we should've come talk to you before we ordered decorations," he joked.
"Oh, are you going to decorate your house?" Jenna asked.
"We thought it would be fun since Mary and Joan are coming for Halloween," Catherine said.
"Actually, that's what we wanted to talk to you about," Steve said, stepping over to stand by Catherine. "What are your Halloween plans?"
"This crew?" Jenna said. "Trick-or-treating all the way."
"Wooooo!" Jacob cheered. "Trick-or-treating!" He looked at Jenna, suddenly worried. "Do you think they'll have good candy here, Mom?"
"Well, this is a new neighborhood for us, but I'm sure it'll be fine."
"I know one neighborhood that definitely has good candy," Steve said.
"You do?" Jacob asked eagerly.
"Yep," Steve said and nodded at Catherine. "Ours."
"How'd you all like to come trick-or-treating with us?" Catherine asked.
"Yeah!" Jacob said instantly. "Can we, Mom?"
"Can we?" Kaitlyn echoed.
Jenna smiled. "What do you three think?" she asked, looking at her older children.
"We're going to ask Chin and Kono and Danny and Grace to come, too," Catherine added.
"That'd be awesome," Dylan said, grinning.
Casey nodded. "Yeah."
"Are you gonna come, Jess?" Kaitlyn asked.
"Oh, um . . ."
"You're absolutely welcome to," Catherine said with an encouraging smile. "We'd love to have you join us."
Jess looked over at Cody.
"Yeah, you should come," he said, a hopeful look on his face.
She smiled at him, then looked back at Steve and Catherine. "Sure. Thanks for inviting me."
"This is gonna be the best Halloween ever!" Jacob exclaimed.
"Now you're really gonna have to decide what you're gonna dress up as, Jake," Cody said, stepping off the stool and moving it over a couple feet.
Jacob gasped in sudden realization, looking at Steve and Catherine. "If you're coming trick-or-treating . . . are you gonna dress up, too?"
Steve shifted. "Oh, I don't know . . ."
"You gotta, you just gotta," Jacob said. "Mom always dresses up to take us trick-or-treating."
"Yeah," Kaitlyn said. "Last year she was Anna."
"Mm," Jenna said, amused. She winked at Steve and Catherine. "Guess who was Elsa."
"You're gonna dress up again this year, right, Mom?" Dylan asked.
"Of course," Jenna answered.
"Will you, too?" Jacob pleaded with Steve and Catherine as he bounced in place.
Steve glanced at Catherine, who gave him a knowing look.
"I guess we could," Steve finally agreed.
Catherine looked at Jenna. "Last year Grace had a party, and we were agents 86 and 99."
"Oh, Get Smart, right?" Jenna said brightly. "I used to watch that on Nick at Nite when I was a kid."
Catherine smiled. "Me, too."
"You've still got that dress," Steve said. "We can wear those costumes again."
Jacob looked scandalized.
"You can't be the same thing two times," he insisted.
"Jake, you were just talking about being a ninja turtle," Cody said, positioning another section of the chain to make a loop along the wall.
"Uh huh," Jacob agreed, not sure what his brother's point was.
"You were a ninja turtle last year."
"But last year I was Mikey," Jacob stated. "This year I might be Raph. Or Leo. Or . . ."
Cody laughed. "Okay, we get the picture."
"Anyway, I'm not walking around in those boots all night," Catherine said. "So new costumes are definitely in order."
Steve sighed in resignation.
"I know!" Jacob cried. "We could all be minions!"
Steve blanched. "Uh . . ."
"I think we should let everyone, including Uncle Steve and Aunt Catherine, pick their own costumes," Jenna said diplomatically, and Steve threw her a grateful look.
"What are you gonna be, Cody?" Jacob asked.
Cody accepted another piece of mounting putty from Casey and attached the middle section of the paper chain to the wall.
"Oh, uh . . . I don't . . . I don't know if I'm gonna dress up this year, Jake."
"What?!" Jacob cried.
"You gotta dress up!" Kaitlyn said.
"Yeah," Dylan added.
Steve looked at him, raising his eyebrows. "Yeah, if I'm dressing up, you're dressing up."
"We'll find something cool," Jess said. "Maybe we could, like, match our costumes or something."
Cody's lip twitched in a half smile. "Yeah. Okay," he said, his eyes on her.
Steve and Catherine shared an amused look with Jenna at the exchange.
"What about the rest of you?" Catherine asked. "Any ideas what your costumes are going to be?"
"Grace said I could wear one of her old cheerleading outfits," Kaitlyn said excitedly. "And she's gonna help me make up a Halloween cheer."
"Oh, fun," Catherine said with a smile.
"Ooh, maybe . . . maybe if Grace comes trick-or-treating, maybe she'll wear a cheerleader outfit, too, and we could match," Kaitlyn said, her eyes widening at the possibility.
"You should ask her," Catherine suggested.
"But don't be too disappointed if she already has another costume idea in mind, honey," Jenna cautioned.
Kaitlyn nodded at her mother, but it was clear she was already envisioning the evening dressed like Grace.
"What about you, Dylan?" Steve asked.
"I think I got an idea," Dylan said, glancing at Cody. "But it's a surprise. I gotta figure out how to do it."
Steve glanced curiously at Cody who shrugged.
"Casey?" Catherine prompted.
"I don't know yet," Casey replied. She nodded confidently. "But I'll think of something."
Catherine smiled. "I have no doubt."
"I got lots of ideas," Jacob said. He began to list them. "I might be Iron Man . . . or a ninja turtle . . . or a real ninja . . . or a bone guy . . ."
"Bone guy?" Steve asked, an eyebrow raised, and Catherine's brow knitted.
"Skeleton," Cody supplied, moving the step stool again.
Steve and Catherine nodded in understanding.
"Or a minion . . . or a Star Wars . . . or Batman . . . or a minion . . ."
Jenna chuckled and ruffled her son's hair. "Needless to say, there are still decisions to be made."
"Hey, Jacob," Steve said, his hands moving to his hips. "Do you know what kind of witch lives at the beach?"
"Huh?"
"It's a joke," Steve clarified, and Jacob's face lit up in anticipation. "What do you call a witch who lives at the beach?"
"I don't know . . . what?" he asked, his eyes wide.
"A sand-witch."
Jacob paused for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"HAHA! A sand-witch!" He jumped in place and looked at his older brother. "Cody, do you get it? 'Cause of the sand!"
Cody smiled. "I get it."
"Do you know another one?" Jacob asked Steve hopefully.
Catherine expression softened fondly as she watched Steve smile at Jacob.
"What's a ghost's favorite rides at the amusement park?"
Jacob clenched his fists, shaking his arms excitedly. "Tell me! Tell me!"
"The scary-go-round and the roller-ghoster."
The young boy blinked as he thought through the punchline.
"Instead of merry-go-round . . ." Dylan started.
"And rollercoaster!" Jacob finished. He threw his head back and laughed hysterically.
"Do another one, Uncle Steve," Kaitlyn said, bouncing on the couch and smiling broadly.
Jess grinned at her.
Steve shrugged apologetically. "I'm afraid that's all I've got right now."
"Ohh," Jacob groaned, slumping. He brightened suddenly. "Maybe there's a Halloween joke book at the library!"
"There might be," Catherine said. "We'll look next time we go."
"Yes!" Jacob cheered, pumping his fist.
"We should let you guys get back to decorating," Steve said.
"You know, speaking of decorating," Catherine began, "do you usually carve pumpkins for Halloween?"
"Yeah, we usually get a couple from the store right before the holiday," Jenna said.
"There are a couple farms on the island," Catherine said. "We could take a trip on a weekend to pick out pumpkins. Maybe a hay ride . . .?"
"Oh, that sounds like fun," Jenna said. She looked at her kids. "Doesn't it?"
"Yeah!" Kaitlyn answered, and her siblings nodded.
"I love Halloween!" Jacob cried, throwing both arms in the air as he fairly burst with excitement.
"This is gonna be awesome," Dylan said, grinning.
"Wait'll you see how Aunt Catherine carves pumpkins," Steve said, smiling at her. "Talk about awesome."
She smiled back at him. "Guess I better start planning now." She looked at Jenna. "Okay, we'll touch base on a good day that works for you?"
"Definitely."
"Do you wanna stay and make a spiderweb?" Jacob asked, holding up a black trash bag.
"You look like you've got it under control, buddy," Steve said. "We've gotta get home and check on Cammie."
Jacob's eyes widened. "Is Cammie gonna wear a costume for Halloween?"
Catherine and Steve exchanged a look before turning back to the group.
"She wore a Five-0 bandana Grace made last year," Catherine said.
"But now that we know the rule about not wearing the same costume two years in a row . . ." Steve teased.
Jacob nodded seriously, and Steve chuckled.
"We'll see what we can come up with for her this year," he said.
After promising to come back and see the house when the decorations were finished and after a final entreaty from Jacob to think about the minion idea, Steve and Catherine said their good-byes and headed outside.
As they walked toward the truck, Catherine folded her arms and glanced up at Steve with a wry smile.
"The roller-ghoster?" she said.
Steve chuckled. "Yeah."
"When did you turn into a comedian?" she asked with a smile.
He gave a little shrug. "I might've looked up a couple jokes before we came."
She hip-checked him, her smile equal parts fond and amused.
"You big softie."
He smiled, then he quirked an eyebrow, his voice dropping low. "Thought we determined I'm far from soft. But if you need a repeat performance when we get home . . ."
She chuckled as they reached the passenger door of the truck. "You just want to get out of planning our costumes."
"Not 'just,' " he said, leaning close.
She pulled back a fraction before their lips met to smile and say, "No waiting till the last minute this year."
"Deal," he said with a grin. "But we've got time."
He kissed her, and when he pulled back, his expression had softened thoughtfully.
"What?" she asked.
He shook his head slowly and reached up to brush her hair behind one ear, exhaling a long breath.
His eyes found hers again. "Still surprises me sometimes," he said quietly. When she quirked an eyebrow in question, he continued, "That we've got time."
She smiled softly in understanding. "Yeah."
His fingers drifted down her arm, and he took her hand in his, squeezing gently.
"It's good," he said.
She tightened her fingers around his in response and nodded.
"Yeah."
He held her gaze for a moment, then leaned down and kissed her once more before releasing her hand and stepping back.
"Same costume parameters apply as last year," he said. "No pirates, no wigs, and . . ."
"And you're wearing pants," Catherine finished with an indulgent smile. "I remember."
He held up a hand and pointed at her. "And I'm not going as a minion, you gotta talk him out of that."
She pressed her lips together to hide her smile.
"I'll let you hash that out with Jacob yourself," she said.
He sighed, shaking his head.
"At least they wear pants," she pointed out, shrugging.
"Catherine . . ." he groaned.
"Well, overalls," she amended with a teasing smile.
He shook his head and sighed again. "How do I get talked into these things?"
" 'Cause you're a great big–"
"Don't even say–"
She cut him off with a quick kiss, and her eyes twinkled as she finished.
"Softie."
Hope you enjoyed! There's plenty more Halloween fun to come this year!
Keep track of all the REAL World stories on our Tumblr page - mcrollintherealworld at tumblr dot com - including a chronological list!
You can still join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with Add me, please! in the subject line.
And find Mari on Twitter asking your opinions on all things McRoll in the REAL World! Mari21763 and add #REALMcRoller