Owen and the kids were working on getting in their costumes for their afternoon out trick or treating while they waited for Claire to make it home from work. He had hers pressed and ready on her bed, he was glad they had managed to put together the entire outfit after looking around that wardrobe room. He had brought back with him everything from the pants and shirt, to the boots, hat, and even a belt along with the little badge and other small accessories they had found in that box.
Mason was the proudest one of the kids when it came to their costume. Owen had helped him put something together. The kid was wearing a pair of dark brown jeans and a grey dress shirt under a brown leather vest. Owen buckled the kid's belt around his waist and fixed a rifle toy against his back. He made sure his combat boots were perfectly tied and smiled to the kid, "Ooof, you look badass, dude!" He nodded and high fived the kid.
"I'm the best raptor wrangler there is!" He bounced happily. "I can't wait to show mom!" He exclaimed with excitement.
"Wait—" Owen removed his wristwatch and put it around Mason's wrist. "NOW, you are the best." He winked.
Mason grinned and without saying a word hugged him from his waist.
Owen smiled, resting his hand against the back of the kid's head, holding him close. Mason was the sweetest of kids, and there were many things he found to have in common with the kid, this had made them bond quite fast and now they were the best of buddies there could be.
"Lets go see if Lizard needs some help with hers." Owen suggested once Mason had let go of their hug. The kid nodded but got distracted by his mom's mirror where he spent some minutes checking his outfit.
Lizzie was slipping her feet in a pair of white flats. It didn't matter how much she had insisted, Brenda hadn't allowed her to wear heels. Owen didn't mess with his ex, so he had found a way to have the blonde girl accept the shoes. The seven-year-old was wearing a white skirt and white button down blouse, as well as a white jacket over her shoulders and a cute little white belt. She had decided to be a 'woman in charge' for Halloween.
"Mommy!" Mason ran off out of Claire's room after hearing the door being opened and jumped into her arms.
"Hey handsome." She smiled and kissed his forehead before adjusting him on her arms. She had no idea what the kids would be for Halloween, they wanted to surprise her since they had worked hard with Owen to put the outfits together.
She noticed Owen's wristwatch on him and smiled to herself, "I'm a raptor wrangler!" He explained.
Claire nodded and put him down, her boyfriend smiling at her a few feet away. She nibbled on her lower lip checking out his outfit and tilted her head, "that's not what I pictured when you said you'd be some half alien policeman." She smirked.
He was wearing a pair of racing leather pants and a crew tee under a red leather jacket. He had yet to put his accessories on.
She walked closer and playfully turned him around to check his ass in those leather pants, "but this is much better." She gently slid her arms around his neck and kissed him softly. "That's for helping him with his costume." She was moved and thankful, he could see it in her eyes. The redhead then kissed him deeper, her hands cupping both his butt cheeks; "and that's for looking sexy as hell." Owen smirked and soundly kissed her again.
"Yuck." Mason wrinkled his nose watching both adults forgetting he was still standing there.
"Where's Lizzie?" Claire wondered, pulling away from Owen and looking around.
The redhead had found the kid quietly looking down her costume. She didn't feel like a woman in charge in it, so she was a little disappointed.
"Hey gorgeous, why the pout?" Claire wondered, hiding something behind her back.
Lizzie sat on the edge of Mason's bed and shrugged.
"I like your skirt." The redhead complimented as she walked into the bedroom and kneeled by the bed next to her. "You know what you need to make it really work?" Her tone of voice was soft, she reached out to caress her pouty cheek.
"What?" The kid sniffed.
"Can you keep a secret?" Claire asked her, slowly bringing what she was hiding to the front. She opened the shoebox she was holding and showed her a pair of white heels.
Lizzie's hazel eyes were bright and her smile was big. She reached out for them and put them on. She happily jumped off the bed so she could feel them on her. They fit perfectly.
"We can't tell your mom, alright?" Claire had her promised.
Lizzie nodded in agreement; Brenda would never find out. "I promise."
"I think you should lose this jacket." Claire slowly removed it from over her shoulders. Once she knew Lizzie was okay with her readjusting her outfit, the redhead unbuttoned her blouse, revealing that the blonde girl had a purple tank top under it. She also took the belt off.
"I want to be in charge." Lizzie explained.
Claire tied the white blouse up around her waist and adjusted her long sleeves rolling them up, as well as fixing her skirt a little bit. She smiled watching how the whole outfit had a different vibe to it.
"What does that mean?" The kid wondered about the modifications the adult had done to her costume.
"It means you are ready to go." Claire winked at her.
Lizzie sighed and turned to look at herself in the mirror. "I look badass now." She grinned.
"You definitely look like someone who can kick some butt." Claire agreed.
"I wish I could wear your hair with my costume; you are the mostest woman in charge I know."
Claire chuckled, slightly moved by her words. The fact that her boyfriend's daughter looked up to her meant a lot. She reached out for the gold nameplate necklace she was wearing and gently put it around the kid's neck. "Now you not only are in charge, but also ready to save that raptor wrangler's butt from getting eaten." She winked at her through the mirror.
Claire lived in a very quiet apartment complex in the suburbs. Her neighborhood was very friendly for most part and the kids had never had issues trick or treating around. Some years it was more quiet than others, the population had been growing as the area became popular, this year more kids could be seen running around in their costumes excited to get some candy and to hang out with their friends. Some of the older ones even riding their bikes through the streets beating the small ones to the houses that were most known for their Halloween spirit and gave the best of candy.
Claire was already trying to mentally figure out how old was old enough for these two monkeys to start doing the trick or treating on their own. She loved her kid, but it took double energy to try stop him from misbehaving on a day when he was enabled by society to play tricks unless bribed with candy. The image of letting him loose on the street was terrifying and that was before adding Lizzie to the picture.
The redhead sighed in disappointment realizing she'd be doing this until they grew out of it. Owen smiled faintly after hearing her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pressing his lips against her temple. She looked up and smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"Look to both sides of the street before crossing, please!" Owen called out watching the kids running off to their next house.
"What do you have in there?" Claire asked curious once they found a bench to sit while waiting for the kids to trick or treat along the block.
"Nothing." He hugged his leather shoulder military messenger bag.
She narrowed her eyes, it didn't look like it was empty. "It looks very heavy for nothing." She tilted her head.
Owen shrugged and taking it off he set it on the floor away from her. "That thing is huge." She was positive the original character didn't carry one that big around, even when she was not familiar with him.
"It was the one I had." He cleared his throat and resting his arm behind her shoulders, he let his fingers play with the ends of her hair.
"Does this still work?" She got distracted with the Walkman he had clipped to his belt. She reached out and pulled his headphones from around his neck and pressing play on the old cassette she tried to listen to what it started playing.
He softly reached out for her forest ranger hat and rested it on his lap. Owen took the headphones away from her and carefully set them on her head, the song 'Hook on a Feeling' by Blue Swede was playing.
Claire laughed and resting the headphones around her neck, she let the song play while her hands got curious with the rest of his accessories. She found the nerf quad blaster he was carrying around and pointing it out at him she fired it, the toy spat a dart hitting him on the chest. She brought it closer and study the pistol, "where do you hide your toys every time you have your girlfriend over?" She teased him, knowing very well that orange blaster didn't belong to Mason.
Owen offered a playful smirk and pulled her closer before kissing her softly, "You are very curious this afternoon, gorgeous." He pointed out, his index finger caressing her jawline.
"It's this stupid uniform you made me wear." She playfully grinned.
Owen fixed the badge pinned in her green jacket and shook his head, "you look adorable." He assured her.
"I feel like Yogi Bear will come out of nowhere and steal all my food." She frowned.
"No, you look like even dragons would fall for you." He insisted.
"Dragons? There are no dragons in the forest, you dummy." She giggled, nudging him playfully.
He laughed and leaning closer kissed down her jaw before finding her lips and pecking them tenderly, "God, I love you." He moaned.
"What?" Claire murmured pulling back lightly, her green eyes steadily fixed on his.
"What?" He froze for a second realizing what he had just confessed, but smiled softly before cupping her cheeks and tucking her messy red hair behind her ears.
The redhead smiled shyly and nibbled on her lower lip.
"I've never told you that before, have I?" He murmured, smiling lovingly her way.
Claire could feel her cheeks warm, she was blushing. She shook her head offering a soft smile.
"No?" He chuckled, his arm around her shoulders pulling her closer having her snuggle close. "Well—"
"Owen..." The raptor wrangler interrupted them, Lizzie standing a step behind him.
Claire groaned, after almost six months Mason was still finding the most inappropriate moments to interrupt them. She scratched her throat softly trying not to look too irritated by her son. She looked away before her eyes fell on the kid whispering something into the adult's ear. The redhead curved an eyebrow, curious on what was it that they were whispering about.
"I promise I'll make this up to you." Owen said apologetically and taking the kids' candy holders, he handed them over to Claire. "We'll be right back." He added before picking his bag up and heading across the street with the kids.
There was more than nothing in Owen's bag, the reason behind this one being heavy was that he had countless of toilet paper rolls in there, he also had snuck a handful of egg cartons (carefully sheltered by the toilet paper), some shaving cream cans, and a few rolls of Saran Wrap. How did he have managed to fit all of this in one military bag? He had years of experience.
Since Owen was about nine, he and his friends had noticed that the trick part was more fun than the treat one when it came to Halloween. They couldn't believe they had wasted all those years asking for candy when they could have been playing pranks around the neighborhood. Now that they had developed an interest for the tricking part, Owen and his group of friends would go out there with their bikes and make sure every cranky neighbor got what they deserved on Halloween night. They did every classic one; cover houses in toilet paper, egged doors and windows, and used shaving cream to draw on walls. Now that he found himself to be in the parent's shoes, it felt like he was passing down the torch — after all, it would have been very hypocritical of him to tell the kids no when they asked for his help.
The previous year, Mason and Lizzie had been caught with their candy bags holding a dozen eggs each. They were going to go smash them against all those houses where they refused to give candy. Of course their little plan didn't make it through the door under Brenda's watch. It had been very disappointing and it had almost gotten them in a lot of trouble.
But this time around, they were no longer fools and naive. In their state of mind, they were convinced that last year they were only six but now they were old and being seven meant they had better plans... or in their case, they had been smart enough to team up with an adult-child like Owen.
The grown man, if you could call him that, had enabled the kids to the point of telling them to leave mercy at the door of the house. It was Halloween and everybody knew the rules.
The two kids had been trick or treating out down the block for about ten minutes or so, every house had been giving them candy so they were happily skipping about down the sidewalk, both adults were left behind them back on that bench while enjoying a moment without the kids.
Mason and Lizzie walked into the yard of their next house, just as told they rang the bell, "trick or treat!" They called out. There was someone home, the kids could tell because the sound of the television made it all the way out to the porch.
Still, there was no answer. The kids had called out three times before giving up and feeling ignored. That's when they went get dad. They had set the trick part of the deal without him; he was just needed for the matches. Owen might have been a carefree type of man, but he was still a parent responsible enough to prevent the kids to play with fire.
"Lets see if this will make them come out the door." He laughed watching Mason and Lizzie setting their prank on the floor before he could do the honors and turn a match on.
"You are so cool!" Mason was thrilled that an adult had finally been able to understand them.
"You are the bestest daddy in the whole world!" Lizzie agreed.
By this, It had been over ten minutes since Claire had been left behind taking care of the candy back at the bench. She had decided to walk and meet them up. She gathered all their stuff and started to walk down the street.
The first thing that hit her was an awful smell coming from ahead. She looked around noticing kids were pinching their noses and walking away to the opposite direction. The smell got stronger by the second. Claire found both kids and Owen running across the street laughing after leaving that one house.
"What are you guys doing?" She wondered fanning her hand close to her nose, trying to keep herself from gaging. "Come on, lets get out of here." She motioned with her hand.
"Just trick or treating." Owen laughed and winked at the kids.
"Yeah. Just trick or treating." They both nodded simultaneously.
Claire tilted her head finding the whole thing way too suspicious, "hmmm." She narrowed her eyes, Owen's arm wrapping around her waist while she handed each kid back their candy holder. "Ugh, you smell like dog poop." Claire looked away.
Both kids giggled full of guilt, Mason slowly hiding the fart spray in the front pocket of his jeans.
"HEY, YOU ASSHOLES!" The man from the house had finally come out to see what was the smell invading his property and where was it coming from.
The redhead frowned and looked over, but Owen was fast to turn her around so they could start walking, "don't pay attention to him." He shook his head, his lips quickly pressing a kiss on her cheek to distract her while they kept walking. Both kids running off to the next house so they could get more candy.
The owner of that house left behind them, dealing with the flaming bag of dog poop at his front door.
The redhead gave Owen a look and shook her head, she was a little disappointed. Claire still let him shower her with affection while they walked away from that house. She'd talk to him later, without the kids present.
Claire didn't let them stay alone from that point on, she'd walk to the door with them and wait for the kids to collect their candy and say thank you before offering the person a lovely evening. The kids hated being this over the top polite, so it was her way to make them pay for that shady stunt they had pulled off with the dog poop. She knew her boyfriend was involved too, but he would pay later.
"Good evening, I am Mason and this is my best friend Lizzie." The boy smiled to the person at their next door, his green eyes looking over to his mom who nodded. "We are trick or treating." Lizzie finished, a grin in her lips.
"What a lovely pair of kids." The old lady at the door smiled, "and the most polite too." She already had a bag of butterfinger chocolate fun size bars in her hand. "You get three each for having good manners." She reached into her bag of candy.
"Yes!" The kids fist bumped watching her drop the bars into their candy holders.
"See, being good pays off." Claire smiled, "now what do you say?"
"Thank you, ma'am." The kids bowed. "Have a nice evening." They waved before turning around and meeting Owen on the sidewalk.
He grabbed both kids from their hands and headed to the next house. Claire waited down the steps, watching Owen and the kids ring the bell to that one door. Mason was the one to ring and waited for the door to be answered. Lizzie frowned after a few seconds of silence and rang the doorbell again.
Both kids turned to look at Claire and she shrugged, her eyes finding Owen who was trying to figure out a way to peek inside through the windows. He did manage to caught a shadow and his arm reached out for the doorbell, he pressed the button letting it buzz for about ten seconds trying to trigger the person and get the door; every adult knew that there was nothing more annoying than having an insisting person at the door ringing and knocking.
"TRICK OR TREAT!" Both kids called out, but they got no response.
"Come on, lets try the next house." Claire called out for the kids to follow her, it was her turn to take them to the door.
They pouted and looking down started to walk down the steps. Owen was still not giving up. He kept buzzing that doorbell like there was no tomorrow.
"FUCK OFF!" He finally got a response.
One that made him chuckle and now that he knew the insisting doorbell was in fact annoying the house owner, he kept doing it.
"Owen..." Claire called out for him to leave it alone.
"I almost got this, babe." He turned back and smiled to the kids. He hated watching them so let down. "If people are home, then they are going to give my kids some candy." He stated before pressing on that doorbell again.
He got Claire with that one, she sighed and smiled to herself, her arm gently holding Mason around before she pressed a kiss on the top of his head. She then reached for Lizzie's hand, the three of them witnessing Owen trying to get that person out the door.
He started buzzing the doorbell to the rhythm of 'La Cucaracha'. Claire was still standing there with both kids by their hands, "babe, come on." She tried not to laugh. "It will start getting dark soon."
Owen kept his little song going, and even started to mix up his buzzing while knocking at the door too. "La cucaracha..." he started singing while his finger pressed on the doorbell and his palm kept the beat of the rhythm against the wooden door, "la cucaracha...ya no puede caminar."
Both kids were laughing, the redhead was trying not to since she didn't think this was a behavior she should enable in front of the kids.
The person of the house finally threw the door open, ready to fight whatever clown was standing on his porch and giving him a headache with that damn doorbell. But it was until he saw Owen's size when he kept himself from physically fighting him, "what the fuck do you want, asshole?"
"He keeps using the F-word." Lizzie pointed out. "And he said as—"
Claire covered Mason's mouth with her hand, "it's not okay to repeat it, you know that."
"Trick or treat, punk." Owen explained.
"We just want some candy." Lizzie frowned after letting go of Claire's hand and walking to stand by her dad.
"Then have your mom and dad get you some." He suggested condescendingly.
"It's Halloween!" She explained, not scared to face this guy.
"Do I look like someone who cares?" He wondered.
"No, but you are ugly." The blonde girl spat before frowning.
"And you are an idiot."
"Hey!" Claire stepped in. She was fast to pull Owen back from his jacket and stand between both guys, keeping her boyfriend behind her back, blocking him from getting to this guy. She took Lizzie's hand and moved her away from him. "They are kids, that was really uncalled for!"
"Your husband is an idiot too." He turned to look at Owen who was now trying to fight the need to punch him in the face for insulting his daughter, this jackass was lucky Claire had found a way to keep him blocked in a way where he would have to hurt her to get to him. Claire wanted to kill him as much as Owen did, but she knew they needed to keep it under control and give both kids a good example on how to deal with bullies. "Fuck off, Losers." He turned around and slammed the door behind him.
The redhead jumped back a little at the sound and looked over to Owen, "time for you to get what you have in that bag out and give it a good use." She tilted her head, crossing her arms against her chest. She was a mom before anything else, Claire had known all along that he had been carrying all sorts of stuff in that stuffed bag.
He smiled, "am I in trouble?" He asked, taking the military bag off and setting it on the floor.
"No." She shook her head with a light smile, "not any more."
Owen smirked playfully and started to bring everything out so they all could attack the house. He handed each kid an egg carton whom didn't lose time before slamming those eggs against each door and window. They laughed running around the house making sure it got egged in its entirety.
Owen worked with the toilet paper and the shaving cream. He left some obscene drawings on his living room window and finished the cans on his door, making sure not one spot was left without it. He then took the rolls of toilet paper and made them fly across his house as well as letting them roll down his ceiling, some of them he used to cover the bushes and trees in his yard.
Claire had grabbed the Saran Wrap and taken the liberty to tightly wrap his car around with it. She made sure the layer of nylon was specially thick around the doors and windows, she also wrapped some of the nylon around the tires. By the time she was done, the car looked as if it was ready to be shipped off.
It took the little group of vandals about fifteen minutes to use everything Owen had been carrying around in that military bag on this guy's house (and car). Claire rang the bell one last time and all four of them ran down the street, leaving him to come out to the door and find the little present the Grady-Dearing squad had left for him.
Both kids and Claire were screaming and laughing while they kept running on their way back home.
It had been a long day and the kids being sleep deprived from the previous night had helped both parents get them to bed early. They were showered and back in their spooky pajamas by the time Claire had the second part of their movie marathon ready.
The first one to have fallen asleep was Mason, they were in the middle of watching Hocus Pocus when Claire noticed he was sound asleep by the edge of the bed. She checked on Lizzie who was still zoning in and out.
"Ready for bed, princess?" Claire asked softly, brushing her blonde hair off her face.
"No way! Daddy said until we pass out." She yawned, fighting sleep.
"Alright." Claire murmured before adjusting and curled up next to Owen against the headboard. She reached for some of the popcorn and quietly nibbled on it while watching the movie.
"Should I take him to bed?" Owen asked about the boy who had given up and let sleep win.
"Thank you." She nodded.
Owen stepped off the bed and walking around it, he carried Mason in his arms and brought him to his own room.
Claire let her eyes follow him leave and nibbled on her lower lip before quietly following them. She hid behind the door frame, watching her boyfriend tuck her son in bed. Owen gently made sure Mason was covered in his dinosaur sheets and picking his T-Rex toy up he kissed her snout, "goodnight Rexy." He did as Mason would have asked if he were awake. He tucked the plush toy next to the boy and gently ran his fingers through his dark hair, "goodnight buddy." He smiled down before slowly stepping around to fix the inflatable air mattress they had for Lizzie.
The redhead had headed over to the kitchen once she watched Owen moved on to working on the other kid's bed. She fetched into the fridge for a bottle of wine and then went looking for a couple of glasses in the cupboard. She reached out to wipe the couple of tears she felt escaping her eyes before she opened the bottle and poured some wine in the glasses.
She sobbed tenderly before feeling that pair of strong warm arms around her waist, his lips against her ear nibbling on her lobe. "She finally gave in, both are sound sleep in their beds." He filled her in before gently turning her around.
Owen frowned and tenderly brushed the tears pampering her cheeks, "You are crying..." He murmured.
She smiled faintly and sniffed before kissing him lovingly, her arms gently hugging his neck.
"Come here..." He handed her one glass of wine and he took the other one before holding her hand and walking to the couch.
Claire sat and gulped half of her wine so she could try calm down. She had no idea how to express how much it meant to her the little bond he had built with her son. If it was too much to let him know that not only Mason, but her had always hoped he'd have something like this — a father figure of sorts, but she never thought it would happen.
Owen sat next to her, gently bringing her legs across his lap. He smiled at her and brushed her hair back from her pamper face. He used kisses to drink her tears away, his smile still curved in his face.
The redhead smiled back and nibbled on her lower lip, watching him take her left hand in his. Owen reached into the front pocket of his orange pajama pants and opened the wrapper of the little thing he had for her.
She chuckled and blushed at the sight of it. She sniffed and tilted her head watching him slid a green Ring Pop around her ring finger before bringing her hand up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss on it.
