Beca Mitchell had never been excited about Halloween in her entire life. Receiving candy was always fun, but why should she have to dress up in lame costumes to get it? Also, she had no one to go trick-or-treating with. She had no brothers or sisters, her mother always seemingly had to work that night, and her father was out of the picture until after the trick-or-treating days.
Chloe Beale, on the other hand, loved the holiday. She loved getting dressed up, even as an adult. She taught third graders, so her excuse for the costume was for them, but everyone knew it wasn't. Growing up, she went trick-or-treating every year until she was twelve, then she took her mother's spot in giving adorable, dressed up kids their candy.
Both of them had a uncharacteristic change of heart when it was time for their daughter to go trick-or-treating. Both of them loved the idea of the fourteen-month-old getting dressed up in whatever Chloe had spent hours upon hours searching for, but they had different opinions on the quest for candy. Chloe thought the idea was dangerous and their precious baby would get kidnapped, while Beca thought she should be taken out to show off her costume in exchange for candy the parents will devour later that night.
"Come on, Chlo. We get to have our daughter looking absolutely adorable, while getting free candy."
"So she is a show pony." Chloe put their daughter's arms through the soft fabric of her brown and white puppy costume. Karsyn, who was way too young to know how important Halloween was, stared at her mom as the costume was quickly slipped over her head."
"For a year and a half you talked about her first trick-or-treating, but now you say no? What the fu-, heck." She stopped the curse word short, knowing Chloe hated when she cursed around the baby.
"I wasn't thinking straight. I was pregnant and or very tired." The red head lifted the baby off of the changing table and held her in her arms. "Why does it matter to you, anyway? You hate Halloween."
"I want my daughter to have the experience that I never had." Beca somehow knew that Chloe would cave at that sentence and allow them to go trick-or-treating. Of course, it worked, but her wife wasn't proud of it.
Jesse and his two boys, Andrew and Mitchell, made a visit before the 'big event', as they were going with them. Andrew was dressed as Spiderman and Mitchell was the red Power Ranger.
"Is Chloe going with us?" Jesse asked as he adjusted Beca's cat ears that rested on her head.
"No, she's staying to pass out candy. She's already taken her 300 pictures."
As all of them set out on their adventure, as Andrew called it, Chloe made sure that Beca knew to keep her daughter safe, and to not eat too much candy before they got home.
"So how is my little Karsyn?" Jesse gushed over the little girl in Beca's arms that he considered a neice.
"Needs more one-on-one time with her uncle." Both of them chuckled as they watched the boys chat about the candy they received so far. "Why didn't you and Aubrey try for a girl?" She placed Karsyn in her stroller as she became fussy, hoping it would calm her down.
Jesse shrugged, "We love our two boys as it is, and I don't think Aubrey could handle a third kid." The blonde loved her kids more than anything, but no one had lesser patience with children than she did. Beca had to give her some credit, as she had mellowed out over the years.
Karsyn became crankier as they walked down the sidewalk. Jesse attempted to hold her, but that ended when he almost dropped her because of the intense wriggling she was doing. The mom took the baby and placed her on the ground.
"Maybe baby just wants to walk for a bit." She held her tiny hand while Jesse began pushing the stroller. They walked to a house that had a porch light on, indicating that the house was offering candy. They all walked up to the door and Beca momentarily let go of her daughter's hand so she could collect candy for the puppy.
In that time, no one paid attention to the toddler, and Karsyn did what she did best, explore. After thank you's were said and the door was shut, Beca turned around to not seeing her daughter. She half-hazardly tossed the bucket of candy into the stroller and raced down the few steps leading to the house. Her heart started pounding and her hands became shaky as she looked up and down the sidewalk. Jesse caught on and told the kids to wait by the stroller as the end of the stranger's driveway.
"I can't believe I lost my fucking kid, the one thing I promised my wife I wouldn't do." Beca ran her hands through her hair, the cat ears lost somewhere between the porch and sidewalk.
"Don't beat yourself up, we'll find her." Jesse stepped on the cat ears, breaking them, and shoving the previously one piece, now three piece, headband into his pocket.
As the boys conversed away, the parents roamed everywhere they thought the toddler could have gone in the dark. They searched the porch, on the sides of the porch, under cars, in the yard, and nothing. It wasn't until a faint 'momma' was heard that Beca had a near heart attack. It was actually the neighbors flower garden that the voice led her to.
Upon finding her, Beca quickly scooped her into her arms and kissed her multiple times. Murmers of 'i love you's and 'never do that again's were heard. Jesse let out a big breath as he went over to his boys, making sure they were still there and in one piece.
While looking at his best friend trying to calm down, Jesse said "I think it's time for us to go home. We've visited enough houses." Of course, there were protests from the younger ones, but they didn't get their way.
On the way home, Beca collected herself and decided it was best for no one to mention Karsyn's short disappearance to anyone, especially Chloe. This meant that Jesse and the boys would not be saying bye to Chloe, as they feared the kids might slip and say something. So, when they finally arrived at the Beale-Mitchell household, the Swanson's quickly, but quietly, piled into their SUV and drove home. The girls walked into the house, a fake smile plastered on the adult's face.
"Where are Jesse and the boys?" Chloe wondered as she stood up from the couch.
"Uh, they went home. Mitchell was practically falling asleep on the walk over. Poor little guy."
Chloe nodded along, and smiled widely as she walked to the girls, "So how was trick-or-treating for the very first time?"
"Oh, y'know, it went good. Got a lot of good candy." She held up the full bucket after she set the toddler on the floor, who ran to her other mommy.
"That's good. I bet my baby is ready for bed." Chloe murmered as she carried Karsyn upstairs and into her bedroom. Beca sighed and rubbed her forehead, knowing she had to tell Chloe or it would eat her alive.
Shortly after, she made her way up the stairs and into the bedroom shared by her and the wife. She stripped out of her black t-shirt and yoga pants and slipped into an over sized t-shirt and gym shorts. She flopped onto the bed and turned the tv on just as Chloe walked into the bedroom, already dressed in a plaid pajama set. She turned the bed side lamp out, laid on the bed, and watched the brunette skim through the endless channels.
"She fell asleep as soon as she hit the crib, you guys must have had fun." The redhead crawled under the covers, making herself warm.
Beca dropped the remote onto the bed and covered her face. "I lost her, Chlo. I lost our child." Her voice was shaky and threatened tears, something that had not happened that night, so far.
Chloe dug deeper into the blankets and replied a simple "I know." Her wife sat up quickly, facial expressions showing her curiousness as to how she knew. "It was the way you acted when you walked in the door, and Karsyn had dirt all over her costume. Honestly, I kind of expected it."
Beca's mouth fell open, "You expected that I would lose our baby. That's great, Chloe." She tried standing up, but Chloe grabbed her wrist and pulled her down.
"I expected it because you were so confident in that you weren't going to do it. It doesn't make you a bad parent. Do you realize how many times I've lost her in a store?" She half-heartenedly smiled at her as Beca eased back into the bed.
"She was there one second, and the next she was gone. I thought someone snatched the adorable thing.
"I know, babe." Chloe patted the brunette's hair. "Sad to say, but this probably won't be the last time it happens.
Beca groaned as she threw blankets over herself. "I hope it's with you, so I don't have another heart attack." She cuddled into her wife's side as she was kissed on the top of the head, and a faint "You wish" was whispered.
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed! I know Halloween is quite a ways away, but this idea popped into my head and I had to roll with it. As you can tell with the names, some one shots will be connected, others will not. Speaking of the names, I wasn't thinking when I wrote Jesse's kids, mainly Mitchell, as that is also Beca's last name. Maybe that calls for a background one shot thing? Anyway, again, thanks for reading! If you have any ideas, message me or comment!