CHAPTER 2:
2 days later, the Bellas & their kids were costume shopping.
"I'm glad we all agreed to go costume shopping in the same store." Emily said.
"Exactly. Especially since we made a pact to not pick any scary costumes." Aubrey said.
"I know, right. We don't want to traumatize our kids." Stacie said.
As they separated to different sections of the store, Grace found a costume she liked best.
"Mommy, what about this one?" Grace asked.
"Oh, you want to be Dorothy?" Alice asked.
"Yeah. I like her dress." Grace said.
"I can see that. Alright, if that's the one you want, we'll get it." Alice said.
Since Grace's costume was from The Wizard of Oz, Alice thought it'd be a good idea to have a costume within the same theme. Therefore, she decided on a lion costume.
Meanwhile, Emily was wheeling Russell in his stroller down another aisle until she found a costume Russell might like.
"What about this one, Russell?" Emily asked showing him a gator costume which judging by his smile meant he approved.
"I think it'll look great on you too. Let's get it." She continued before noticing a bee costume in the same aisle which she decided to get for herself.
Meanwhile, as Alice & Grace were paying for their costumes, Alice noticed a sad look in her daughter's eyes.
"What's wrong, sweetie? Did you change your mind about the costume?" Alice asked concerned.
"No. I like the costume...it's something else." Grace said sadly.
"What is it?" Alice asked.
"I miss spending time with daddy." Grace said tearfully.
"Sweetie, I get how that can upset you. But you know how busy he is with work." Alice said trying to comfort Grace.
"Exactly. All he does is work. He's barely done anything with me since my 5th birthday." Grace said upset before crying on her mother's shirt.
"Grace, I had no idea you felt this way. You hardly say something. Why is it just getting you down?" Alice asked.
"Well, as much as I enjoy doing things with you, sometimes I feel like a piece of me is missing." Grace answered.
"Ah, I get it. I'll tell you what. When he gets home tonight, I'll have him talk to you. It'd be your chance to tell him how you feel." Alice offered.
"Okay." Grace said as the two paid for both of their costumes.
Meanwhile, Aubrey & Finn were walking down another aisle until Finn found a costume he liked.
"What about this one, mommy?" Finn asked showing his mother a Batman costume.
"Really? You like Batman?" Aubrey asked.
"Yeah. I liked him ever since daddy took me to that comic book store." Finn said.
"Really? I don't remember him ever mentioning that. But if that's the costume you like, we'll get it for you." Aubrey said.
While Finn seemed rather confident about his costume choice, Aubrey was stumped about what costume she should decide on. After some deep thinking, she finally decided on a cat costume.
Meanwhile, Stacie was walking down another aisle with her two daughters and they seem to be having disagreements about their costume choices.
"I like this one." Kim said noticing a witch costume.
"Kim, NO! Remember what mommy said: No scary costumes!" Bella reminded her.
"Come on, are you telling me you'd be scared by a witch costume?" Kim asked.
"Well, I'm not; but what if one of the others might be?" Bella asked.
"Well, there's one way to settle this." Kim said.
"What's wrong, girls?" Stacie asked.
"Bella's worried that a witch costume might scare one of the other kids." Kim recapped.
"I'd have to agree." Aubrey said chiming in.
"Who do we know that could possibly be scared of a witch costume?" Kim asked to Aubrey.
"Well, Kim, I don't know if you know this, but Finn was traumatized a few weeks ago and I don't want him to feel that way again." Aubrey recapped.
"Thanks, mommy." Finn said.
"Come on, Kim, I'm sure there's a whole lot more costumes here you'd like just as much." Stacie said.
"Yeah, what about this one?" Bella asked showing Kim a Wonder Woman costume.
"Wonder Woman? Hmm, I did enjoy that Wonder Woman movie and it would definitely be a change to what I've dressed up as for years...what the heck, I'll take it!" Kim said.
"Yay! And I'm going to go with the penguin costume." Bella said.
"Alright, you two...let's go pay for your costumes." Stacie said as the three went to do so, but not before deciding on a costume for herself.
In the same aisle Bella & Kim found their costumes, Stacie noticed an array of wigs & dresses and an idea came to her of what she could dress up as...Marilyn Monroe.
Now as they were all leaving the costume shop with all of their costumes...
"Well, looks like we all got some good costumes." Emily said with confidence.
"Needless to say, this year's Halloween party is going to be awesome." Aubrey said.
"Yeah!" The others agreed.
That night shortly before Grace went to sleep, her father came into her bedroom for a heart to heart conversation.
"Hey, Grace. Mommy said you wanted to talk to me about something?" Ken asked.
"Yes." Grace said.
"Well, what is it? I'll listen to whatever you have to say." Ken said.
"Okay, here goes: Daddy, I miss spending time with you." Grace started.
"Awww, sweetie, I miss spending time with you too. I know it hasn't been the same since I started my job." Ken said.
"Yeah. Spending time with mommy is great, but it always feels like a piece of me is missing." Grace said sadly.
"Okay, I get it. Let me ask you this: Is there anything in particular you had in mind you want me to do with you?" Ken asked.
"Yeah. Can you take me trick-or-treating this Halloween?" Grace asked.
"Well, I can't really promise anything. You know how some older folks tend to pull pranks that night? So, we have to make sure those troublemakers are off the streets." Ken said.
"I know, but is there anyway you can work something out?" Grace asked.
"I don't know, I..." Ken said.
"Please, daddy? For me?" Grace asked giving her father the puppy dog eyes.
"(sighs) I'll tell you what, tomorrow when I go to work, I'll talk to my boss about being on call for Halloween night. If he says yes, I'll take you trick-or-treating, okay?" Ken offered as the two hugged.
"Thanks, daddy. I hope it all works out." Grace said.
"Me too. And I will let you know, okay." Ken said.
"Okay." Grace said.
"But for now, let's try to get some sleep, okay." Ken said tucking his daughter in.
"Good night, daddy." Grace said.
"Good night, Grace." Ken said turning off the bedroom light on his way out.