The Skellingtons

A/N: Aaaand I'm back at it! I watched TNBC a few weeks ago because of Halloween and it reminded me that I need to write another chapter for this story that I've neglected...I hope you guys like this chapter! TennesseeGirl123 gave me a suggestion to write a chapter about Sally and her love so that's the inspiration behind this particular chapter. It's a little more poetic (and shorter) than the other chapters but I think you'll like it.

But also thank you to the other reviewers! In particular, thanks to SmallLittleCagedBird, GodlyJewel, I-Breathe-Fantasy, KiraJenLove, and TennesseeGirl123 for their reviews for the last couple of chapters. You guys have inspired me to keep this story going!

And to answer your question, KiraJenLove, the thing that Santa said at the end of chapter 1 was a direct quote from the track "Closing" on the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack. It's a narration from Santa (kind of like the beginning where he says "'Twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems...") where he talks about visiting Jack years later. It served as the inspiration for chapter 1 even though it wasn't in the final cut of the movie (but I think it should have been!). :)

I hope you enjoy this chapter and don't forget to follow, favorite, and review! :)

-PenPaperParadise

Chapter 9: Love

On the day that Jack Skellington had first announced he was planning on taking over Christmas, Sally would have called you crazy if you told her she would end up marrying the Pumpkin King and having a family with him. It had been one of her greatest fantasies to marry Jack, sure, but to have that actually come true? She would have told you to go get your brain checked out by Dr. Finklestein.

But she did indeed have a family with him, even if she didn't always believe it was real. Every once in a while Sally still couldn't believe her luck that she had ended up with such a wonderful family. Her children astounded her every day: they all had such diverse personalities and yet she saw so much of herself and Jack in them. They were growing every day, in height and in experience, and they continued to teach her what it meant to be a mother.

And Jack...back then she had imagined what it would have been like to be in a relationship with him, and after that fateful Christmas Eve he had exceeded her high expectations. He was loving, charming, generous, thoughtful, a good father, and overall an incredible person. He led their town with patience and understanding while also caring for their family with the same compassion he had for the citizens. At times, Sally wondered what she did to deserve him.

However, their family wasn't perfect. The children fought with each other and had tantrums, Jack sometimes grew frustrated with all the work he had weighing on his shoulders, even Sally herself would lose her patience with her children when they did not do what she had asked. At times, there were a lot of raised voices and tears spilled in Skellington Manor.

Sometimes, though, the tears spilled were happy tears. Sometimes Sally thought back to James's first birthday where all their close friends had gathered to celebrate the toddler's birthday. They all sang "Scary Birthday to You" and applauded when Sally cut the jack-o'lantern-shaped cake, and no one cared that James was too young to understand what was going on. Sally had stood back and watched with teary eyes as her loved ones all came together to celebrate her son. At one point Jack had asked her if she was okay, and she simply nodded with a genuine smile on her face.

She loved her family with all her heart, and she knew they loved her too, even if they didn't always explicitly say the words "I love you." She saw it when Kitty drew a messy picture of their family with hearts drawn all around them; she heard it when everybody laughed at the newest joke that Nick said when they sat at the dinner table; she felt it when Jack kissed her goodbye, deeply, whenever he had to travel to one of the other holiday lands to consult with the leaders. An outsider would think nothing of these gestures from her family, but to her they were treasured memories that reminded her of the love that radiated from her family.

And that, Sally reminded herself, was proof enough that her dreams had indeed become a reality, even if she didn't always believe it.