Ever since they found out that they were having triplets, Jesse had insisted that when Halloween rolled around, they would dress as a trio. The Three Musketeers, the Three Blind Mice, Jesse didn't particularly care. But he wanted at least one Halloween where they dressed as a theme.
For their first Halloween, at ten months old, they were mini M&Ms, wearing costumes that Beca had bought online (their costumes had been a month long argument between the couple- Jesse thought that dressing them like little Crayola crayons would be downright adorable, but Beca thought that there was nothing cuter than candy. "There is literally nothing cuter than these costumes Jesse. And CRAYONS? Really?").
They had piled them into the triplet stroller and they had fallen asleep six houses into their expedition (and Beca and Jesse had devoured their candy). For their second Halloween, Jack was Buzz Lightyear, Molly was Jesse and Toby was Woody, fighting colds, lasted eight houses.
But at almost three, they were excited. And requesting to use their costumes from the year before a second time (Jack wore his Buzz costume on a daily basis, he loved it).
"The Wizard of Oz!" Jesse declared one night in early October.
"Pardon?" Beca said calmly.
"We can go as the Wizard of Oz!"
"I don't fully understand", Beca said in confusion.
They were going as the crew from the Wizard of Oz. Molly would be Dorothy, Toby would by the Scarecrow and Jack would be the Tin Man. He brought it up with them, and was met with shrieks of delight.
"You're insane!" Beca said cheerily.
"And we can be Uncle Henry and Aunty Em!"
(She didn't just think he was insane. She knew it, through and through. She had married a nutcase.)
"Harry can join in too!" Jesse said as an afterthought. "We always need a Cowardly Lion!"
"Go and tell Aubrey you want to dress her son as the Cowardly Lion, I dare you".
"Aubrey can be the Wicked Witch".
Beca's face lit up in a way that Jesse had never seen before, positively beaming. "I'm telling Aubrey!"
"And Chloe can be Glinda". Jesse shrugged.
(Surprisingly, Aubrey was very enthusiastic about dressing her son as the Cowardly Lion. Jesse was ninety nine percent sure it was because Stacie forbid Beca from telling her that she had to be the Wicked Witch.)
Beca wasn't particularly creative. Music was her thing. Craft was Chloe's. And yet she was sitting at their kitchen table, once her kids were tucked into bed, diligently painting a funnel silver.
"I am an awesome mother", she declared to Jesse. "Now I've just got to try and find Molly a dress. Aubrey found Harry a lion costume today, oh my God, Jess, he looks adorable".
"So next year I'm thinking-"
"Jesse", she said quickly. "No. no no no. we need to get through this Halloween before we progress to next year".
"Well I was thinking Minnie and Mickey and Pluto, but we can't really fit Harry into that so…" his voice trailed off when he saw the look Beca was giving him. "What?"
"You are not dressing one of our kids as a dog".
"What?"
"Minnie and Mickey are mice. They're mice and they have a pet dog. Like, that will never ever make sense to me. And you are not dressing one of my babies up as a dog".
"You know what, Becs? If everyone else had kids, there's a very real chance that we'd have to make one of them Toto. Toto is also a dog. Just let that sink in for a moment".
She frowned at him. "Jesse that is a bad idea".
"Molly", Beca almost begged, as she turned her daughter's head once more. "Please, baby girl, you need to sit still so I can finish braiding your hair!"
"Molly", Jesse called from across the room, and much to Beca's annoyance, their daughter twisted her head. "Dorothy sits still when Aunt Em does her hair".
That did it. Molly sat perfectly still, focusing on where her father was painting Jack's face silver. Toby skipped around the living room, clutching his pumpkin bucket, dressed in his scarecrow outfit.
"Am I a good scarecrow, Mum?" he questioned seriously, and Beca nodded solemnly.
"You're the best scarecrow I've ever seen, Toby James", she told him, and he broke into a grin.
"Come on Aunty Em!" Jesse enthused, once the ends of Molly's braids were tied with blue ribbon. "Let's get a photo of them and be on our way!"
Much to Beca's amusement, they fell into step, linking arms just like they had done on the Yellow Brick Road.
"We're gonna see the Lizard!" Jack sang. "In the 'Merald City!"
"Wizard, Jacko", Jesse chuckled.
"No, just Uncle Tom", Toby giggled.
(The Swanson triplets adored The Wizard of Oz. despite all three of them being terrified of the flying monkeys and the Wicked Witch of the West, they requested to watch the movie a minimum of three times a week. Beca and Jesse had already decided that when they were older, they'd take a trip to New York City to see Wicked on Broadway, to see their reactions to the musical.)
"Let's go!"
The kids lead the way to Aubrey's house, a short walk, stopping at only a few houses along the way (because their parents didn't want them getting too excited and wearing themselves out before the night began).
"Look at Harry!" Molly almost squealed, running the last twenty metres towards her aunt and Uncle.
"Hey girly!" Michael said cheerfully, catching her in a hug. "You're a beautiful Dorothy!"
"Thank you!"
Harry, who often tried to be the fourth Swanson, was dressed as the Cowardly Lion, completing their pack.
"Hey, think you and Jesse can come up with a group of five for next year?" Aubrey questioned.
"Wait, what?"
Aubrey patted her tummy gently and Beca's eyes lit up. "Oh my God, congratulations!"
Along the way, they collected their aunts and uncles, before setting off to trick or treat properly.
"Trick or treat!"
Their neighbours gushed over the sweetness of their costumes, exclaiming things like 'oh you make such a beautiful Dorothy!' and 'you're such a brave Lion!' to the kids. And while they accepted the compliments with smiles, they held out their buckets for the candy.
"There's so much!" Toby laughed, almost manically.
"He takes after his mother; clearly", Jesse chuckled, as he grabbed for Toby's hand.
But despite the excitement, they were cut off after fifteen houses and a full sack of candy each. Despite their excitement, the kids were wearing down- but devising plans to eat their entire loot before they got home.
"Hey, when you guys start popping out kids-"Beca started.
"That was very eloquent Beca", Chloe laughed.
"We could have a big ass group. Like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves or something. Jesse, next year they should go as the Scooby Doo gang!"
"What if they have girls?" Fat Amy questioned.
"Well then we'll slap a hat with a beard on them and hope that they don't hate us in years to come", Jesse shrugged. "I mean, I don't think we could do that to Molly, she'd probably have a meltdown or something, but we'll just have to work around it!"
"Want to all come back to our house?" Chloe volunteered.
"Yeah!" Toby shouted, flinging his arms excitedly around his Aunt Chloe. "Yeah! Let's do that!"
When they returned to Chloe's house, the redhead put the Smurfs Halloween special into the DVD player and popped a bowl of popcorn for the kids, before opening a bottle of Boone's Farm. Her eyes widened when Aubrey declined her glass.
"Oh my God!" her eyes shone, and Aubrey nodded. "You're pregnant! Again! Oh my God!"
"Gotta say, I always thought Chloe would be the one popping out kid after kid", Fat Amy commented, and Chloe looked down into her wine glass.
"We've been trying, actually. We've been trying for a while".
"Aw, Chlo!" and Aubrey hugged her tight. "It'll happen".
"It'll happen", Fat Amy agreed. "There'll be little gingers running around before we know it. A few more cousins for those kids to play with". She motioned into the living room, where the three Swansons and little Harry were passed out on the floor, their mouths sticky with candy, a pile of limbs.
