Lucy woke up later than usual – which was a disorienting experience as a new mother. Yawning, she padded into the kitchen in search of her missing wife and daughter. "Em?" she called out.
"In here," she called back, a smile audible in her voice.
"Why does it sound like you're up to something?" she asked, emerging into the living room to find Emily laying on the floor with Aurora across from her...all dressed up in a strawberry costume.
"Look at the cutest little berry in the patch!" Emily cooed.
Lucy smiled sweetly at her wife and daughter. "Someone's excited about Aurora's first Halloween..."
Emily sat up, lifting Aurora off the floor. "Of course, I am! It's the whole reason I was excited to have an October due date," she joked.
"You do realize she can barely hold her own head up, right? She won't remember this..." Lucy reminded.
"But I will," Emily said. She leaned in to kiss Lucy.
Laughing, Lucy took Aurora in her arms to feed her. "So, what do you have up your sleeve for today?" she asked.
Settling next to her on the couch, Emily said, "I'm glad you asked..." She pulled Lucy's feet into her lap to rub them. "First, we're getting the girls all dressed up and going to the pumpkin patch. Then, we're taking them trick-or-treating at the mall. Then, it's an early bed time, so the grown ups can enjoy the holiday too."
"You know it hasn't been six weeks yet, right?" Lucy reminded.
"That doesn't mean we can't enjoy some other fun," she teased with a mischievous smirk.
Lucy grinned. "I like the way you think," she murmured, leaning in for another kiss. "So, where's the other munchkin?"
Emily rolled her eyes. "Pouting in her room."
Lucy raised a brow. "What now?"
"She saw Aurora's costume and wanted to be a strawberry too," Emily relayed. "When I told her she has a very pretty Ariel costume, she started to cry.
Lucy's face fell. "My poor little munchkin," she murmured, "She's having a rough time adapting to not being the baby of the family..."
Emily nodded, sighed. "Maybe we should make some one-on-one time for her today," she suggested. "And when Aurora is a little older, we can have a special Clara day." A pause. "But we're still short one strawberry costume."
A thoughtful expression crossed Lucy's face.
"What are you up to?" Emily asked.
"You'll see..." she replied with a little smirk.
"Go show Mommy your new costume," Lucy told Clara, voice carrying from her room.
Clara giggled, then sprinted full-on into the living room to strike a dramatic pose.
"Wow!" Emily gasped, "Clara, look at you!"
Clara was grinning from ear to ear. "St'awberry!" she announced firmly. Lucy had somehow managed to rig a strawberry costume with items on hand – a red leotard, a green tulle skirt, and stick-on yellow gems stuck to the leotard as the seeds. And her mess of curls was adorned with a little crown of white silk blossoms.
"You sure are," Emily agreed. "Mama sure made you a pretty new costume, didn't she?"
Clara glanced over her shoulder at Lucy who was standing in the doorway with a smile, flashed a toothy grin back at her.
And all Emily could do in that moment was smile at her incredible little family.
"Okay, ma douce fraise," Emily murmured, holding Clara against her hip. "Wave bye-bye to Mama and Rory."
Clara obeyed, opening and closing her little fist in a wave. "Buh-bye," she echoed, then blew a kiss.
"You and me are going to hang out in the corn maze while Mama gives Rory her lunch, okay?" Emily informed the toddler. She pointed out the field of corn stalks. "We're going to have fun, just you and me!" She tickled Clara's tummy until she shrieked with giggles.
"Mama!" she squealed, squirming in Emily's grip. When Emily set her on her feet, she wrapped her little hand around Emily's and proceeded to drag her into the maze.
As they wove around corners and dead ends, they stumbled almost headlong into another pair of explorers – a father around Emily's age with his daughter of five or six, dressed as a ballerina (ironically).
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" the man apologized, reaching out a hand to steady Emily. Clara immediately scuttled behind Emily, hiding her face against her mother's leg.
"It's not a problem," Emily assured him. She reached down to lift Clara into her arms, overly protective, perhaps, but she'd seen enough kidnapping cases in her years that it felt warranted.
"Another single parent on a Halloween adventure, I presume?" the man asked, gaze flickering from Emily to Clara and back. He plastered on a wide smile and Emily didn't need to be a profiler to know he was laying on the charm a little thick with the intent of getting her number.
Emily's mouth hung open for a few moments. "Oh! No!" she yelped. She flashed her ring. "I'm married, actually – my wife is feeding the baby in the car..."
It was the man's turn to blink in surprise for a few moments. Then, his face hardened, all earlier traces of kindness vanishing to be replaced with thinly veiled disgust. "It's people like you that make a joke out of marriage," he snapped, then spit at her feet.
There was a long stunned silence that followed, during which Emily tried to decide whether to confront the man or let the matter drop. She opened her mouth to inform him that he'd made a big mistake talking like that in front of her daughter...but before the words could escape, Clara whispered in her ear, "Mommy?" She was smiling at her, blissfully unaware. She pointed eagerly in the direction she wanted to go.
"Lead on, sweet pea," Emily murmured, setting her back on the ground and taking her hand again.
She knew it would only be a matter of time before this happened again and it wouldn't be long before Clara was old enough to understand. But for now, she was innocent and all she wanted was to continue exploring the maze with her Mommy.