Hauntober:

Lantern

Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

Story and OCs © Me

The loud knocking at the door caused Izayoi to practically shoot to her feet as she hurried to open it, excited to see her grandchildren since she hadn't seen them since last month. As she opened it, the first thing that came running out at her were two of her precious grandchildren.

"GRANDMA!" Yamako and Sanka exclaimed as they latched onto Izayoi, who laughed as she kissed them both on their cheeks. Not long after, Inuyasha came in while holding Little Izayoi and Usagi, and Kagome walked in with Ichiro, who had Riki on a leash.

"Oh, my precious grandbabies!" Izayoi exclaimed as she kissed her grandchildren on their cheeks, one-by-one, gave Riki an affectioned scratch behind his ears, then went up and gave her daughter-in-law a quick (but tight) hug, then finally, gave her son a big hug and a kiss. "And I couldn't forget my baby boy."

"Love you, too, Mom," Inuyasha smiled as he handed the twins to his mother, who laughed as she gave them both raspberries on their cheeks, causing them to squeal in delight.

"Thanks for inviting us up here, Mom," said Kagome.

"Oh, of course!" Izayoi replied as she set the toddlers down on the couch. "You know how much we love having you here!"

"Where are Dad and Shippo?" Inuyasha asked.

"Oh, they're getting the surprise," said Izayoi. "I just texted them, they just left. It's not that far, so they'll be home sometime soon."

"Grandma, I'm hungry!" Yamako piped up.

"Me, too!" Sanka added.

"Oh, kids, of course, you must be starving!" said Izayoi. "I just finished making hamburger steaks for everybody, and when we're done eating, we can work on our little arts and crafts project, together!"

"Yay!" Yamako and Sanka cheered happily while Riki barked and wagged his tail, hoping that some of the meat would fall to the floor since the kids were always so messy when they ate.

Soon, lunch was being served: it was beef hamburger steak that had been simmered in tomato sauce with a sunny-side-up egg on top, as well as a sprig of basil for garnish. Riki sat at the table, watching Ichiro eating his steak, but the boy was thoughtful enough to sneak him a bite or two before he continued eating his own meal. Inuyasha smirked as he ate his own food, remembering how he used to sneak bites of his meals to his own dog, Taro.

May that old furball rest in peace.

Just as everyone had finished eating, they heard the sound of a car pulling up to the house, causing Yamako to gasp excitedly as he ran over to the bay window with Sanka excitedly running along after him. As they wiped away the fog on the glass, they both looked out to see their grandfather and their adopted fox demon uncle walking up the stairs, carrying large bags. As if sensing that they had been spotting, Toga looked up at the window before he grinned and waved at the brother and sister, who giggled and bounced up and down in excitement.

"They're here, they're here!" Sanka declared as she ran to the door with her brother following after her, and as soon as the door opened, they jumped up to hug their grandfather, who laughed as he held them in his arms.

"Hey, you little rascals!" Toga exclaimed as he gave them both kisses, then put them down on the floor as they went to hug Shippo, next.

"Hi, Uncle Shippo!" Yamako exclaimed.

"Hey, you guys!" Shippo greeted as he gave them a good squeeze. "Oh, so good to see you!"

"Hey, Grandpa," Ichiro greeted as he got up to hug Toga, who laughed as he gently hugged him back, then went over to kiss the twins.

"Hi, Usagi, Little Izzy~!" Toga cooed.

"Hi, Gwampa," the twins said.

"Hi, Dad!" Kagome greeted as she got up to hug her father-in-law, who put his arm around her shoulder in that fatherly way.

"Good to see you, Kagome," Toga said, "and you, too, son."

"Hey, Dad," Inuyasha greeted back.

"Grandpa!" exclaimed Sanka. "Did you bring the surprise?"

"Sure did," Toga smiled as he soon brought out some large pumpkins...and a couple of little ones, too. "Guess what we're gonna do, kids!"

"Make jack-o-lanterns!" cheered Yamako and Sanka while Little Izayoi and Usagi both squealed.

Soon, Izayoi had laid out some newspaper on the table...and some on the floor, just to be safe. Soon, Yamako and Sanka were sitting on their chairs, tracing different designs and shapes onto their selected squashes. Even Ichiro, who would say that he was "too mature" for such things, decided to get in on the act and claimed a pumpkin of his own. As for Little Izayoi and Usagi, Kagome and Izayoi were both decorating much smaller pumpkins with markers, glue, construction paper, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, and glitter pens.

After the kids got through drawing their designs, Inuyasha, Shippo, and Toga got to work on carving the pumpkins. Once the tops were cut out, then came gutting the pumpkins, where they actually reached in and pulled out the guts and seeds with their claws. Shippo even made it look like he was savagely pulling out the brains of a pumpkin, which made his adoptive niece and nephew laugh. Soon after they were removed, the grownups began to help the kids carve out their patterns.

Sanka's pattern was a unicorn with a bit of glitter to add for some "magical appeal" while Yamako drew the growling face of The Incredible Hulk. Ichiro's pumpkin was a little more...intricate. It looked like a human, but it had pointed ears and its teeth were exposed, not to mention it had long hair and its eyes looked sunken in.

"Ichi, honey, what am I looking at, here?" Izayoi asked as she looked at her oldest grandson's pumpkin.

"It's Eren Yeager's Titan form," Ichiro replied. "From Attack on Titan."

"Oh, right!" Izayoi realized.

As for the twins, Little Izayoi had glued googly eyes on her tiny pumpkin and drew a goofy smile while Usagi...well, it was hard to tell since she splattered glitter, glue, and confetti all over it...but it was still cute.

Shippo soon revealed his masterpiece, not long after: a fierce nine-tailed fox, complete with foxfire lighting up the inside, giving the pumpkin an eerie green glow.

Soon after that, it was time for a bath to wash off the pumpkin goop, glitter, and glue, then dinner was had not long after. It was Izayoi's specialty tonight: chicken croquettes (to Riki's delight) with soba noodles, followed by ice cream for dessert. After that, the kids got to watch a little bit of TV with Shippo before finally heading upstairs to bed.

As the kids slept, Inuyasha held Kagome on his chest as he lied on the couch while Toga sat in his favorite chair with Izayoi snuggling up to him on his lap. The parents and grandparents decided to stay up late just a little longer to watch a horror flick on TV since they weren't quite tired, yet. Kagome smiled up at Inuyasha, who grinned at her with a fang poking from his lip before he soon gently cupped her chin and kissed her tenderly on her lips. Izayoi smiled warmly at her son and daughter-in-law before she gave a knowing glance to her own husband, who wiggled his eyebrows up and down in that cute way that made her giggle before she pressed her lips up against his as he gently cradled her against his body.

Outside on the porch, two medium-sized pumpkins had been set out, both of them bearing two hearts with certain letters carved into them.

I+K and T+I

Review, please!