twenty four: clients & costumes

two days later

august 11

"Alright, guys," Dr. Jones said as he walked into Ally's hospital room, "Everything is looking good here. I'm happy to announce that you are officially cleared to go home." Ally leaned her head back against the pillow, grinned and let out a deep sigh. After four and a half days here, she was tired of the hospital and more than ready to leave. The doctor had said that they wanted to keep Ally an extra day to keep an eye on her just to make sure everything was looking good before clearing her to go home. Dr. Jones handed Austin the paperwork that they needed to sign, and he looked over at his wife, who was as relieved as he was.

"I'm so happy," Ally whispered, letting out a tired laugh, "I'm sick of this stupid hospital room."

Austin nodded, handing the paperwork over to her after signing where he needed to. "Me, too."

"I miss my bed," she mused, "and Pickles and Paris. And of course, Ava." He nodded again, going over to Alex's bassinet and picking him up, bouncing him lightly.

"Me, too."

"I can't wait for him to meet the rest of the family. I mean, technically, he has, but he hasn't, like, met them met them, you know?"

He looked over at her, grinning. "Yeah."

"Well, you're awfully quiet today," Ally commented. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, Als, I'm fine," he said with a laugh, going over to sit back down in his chair. "Just tired. I didn't sleep a wink last night."

Ally nodded. "Yeah, me neither. But at least now we can be sleepless in our own home." She slowly swung her feet over the side of the bed and hobbled over to the duffel bag she'd packed to get some new clothes, wincing with every step. Austin took her hand and helped her over to the bathroom, where a nurse was waiting to help her change.

In the main room, Austin was putting Alex's go-home outfit on him—a onesie from his parents that said, "Prince of Moon's Mattress Kingdom" (they'd ordered it before Alex was born—although nobody knew the gender, they were positive it was a boy). The newborn looked around, blinking curiously, occasionally trying to wriggle out of his dad's grip. Austin placed a clean diaper underneath Alex's bottom and unstrapped the dirty diaper from him, quickly replacing it. He'd learned the trick from his mom when they were visiting two days prior. "You only make that mistake once," she'd said, "Always replace the diaper quickly or else he'll squirt ya. You know, you used to do that to your father and I when you were a baby." Austin had rolled his eyes at that one. Of course she had to bring up one of his baby stories right now.

Once he'd finished putting the diaper on, Austin slid the onesie on him and snapped the three buttons at the bottom. "There we go," he said, picking Alex up, holding him on the left side of his body, "Good as new." He went over to the couch, grabbed the car seat, and set it on the bed, pushing the handle back and setting Alex inside. Austin tickled him lightly in the belly a couple of times, eliciting a little smile from the baby, before buckling him in. Ally walked out of the bathroom just then, setting her clothes back in the duffel bag and going over to where Austin was standing. She leaned against his shoulder, smiling.

"My two favorite boys," she said, looking up at him. He put an arm around her.

"We're honored," he replied, planting a kiss on her forehead. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke up again.

"Want to take this little man home?" she asked. Austin nodded.

"Let's do it."

fifteen minutes later

"Remember that you have to put it in backwards, not forwards," Ally piped up from the wheelchair a few feet away as Austin fastened the car seat base into the back seat. One nurse was standing idly by, holding Alex's carrier, while another pushed Ally in a wheelchair. She motioned for the nurse to push her forward so she could see what Austin was doing.

"Do you remember how to do it? It's been, like, two and a half years."

"Don't worry, Als. I know what I'm doing," he replied, threading the seatbelt through the base. He frowned, trying to straighten it out when he noticed a twist in the middle. Austin looked down at her. "Do you know how to get rid of the twisty things?" Ally rolled her eyes.

"Step aside. Let the master handle this." He carefully helped her to stand up and she hobbled over, a permanent smirk on her face the entire time. Sure enough, she had the base installed within about two minutes— just as she'd said. Ally looked over at him.

"That's how it's done." Austin rolled his eyes and went over to grab the carrier, bringing it over to the back door and snapping it into place. "Are the buckles at armpit level, Austin?" He narrowed his eyebrows and adjusted them so they were snug around Alex's chest.

"Better?" She peeked over his shoulder.

"Better." She reached up to high-five him and he threw the duffel bags in the trunk of their Black Toyota Rav4 before helping Ally into the left side of the back seat and taking his place in the front. Ally buckled herself in, shifting a little in her seat and pulling up the shade of the car seat. "There's my smiley boy!" she exclaimed, pinching his cheek. Austin looked back in the rearview mirror.

"Are we ready back there?"

"We're ready."

"Austin, you need to drive faster," Ally urged, looking over his shoulder at the dashboard. "We'll be fine back here, I promise."

"I thought I was driving pretty fast!" Austin argued, ramping up the speed a whopping five miles per hour. "I'm at the speed limit!"

"Yeah, but cars are passing us left and right," she shot back. "You know, sometimes it's okay to drive a little bit over the speed limit."

"Am I hearing this right?" Austin glanced at his wife in the rearview mirror, "Ally Dawson, a rebel? I never thought I'd see the day."

"Actually, it's Moon now," she mused. "I'll have you know that I'm taken by a very strapping pop star."

"Oh really?" Austin asked, playing along, "Is he cute?"

"Very," she replied. Austin smirked.

"All these years later, and you still find me irresistible." Ally rolled her eyes.

"Just focus on the road, please."

twenty minutes later

"Who's excited to meet her little brother...again?" Ally exclaimed as she and Austin came in through the door to the garage. Ally set the carrier down as soon as they got into the kitchen. Penny, who was cutting up some apples for Ava, ran over to them and gave them both hugs, peering into the carrier at Alex and commenting again about how he looked just like a mini-Austin (they'd heard that multiple times from everyone already). Ava jumped down from her chair, ran straight past the carrier, and wrapped both her arms and legs around the bottom of her mom's right leg, clinging on like a leech.

"Mommy, daddy!"

"Well, somebody missed us," Ally mused. "We missed you too, Ava Marie. Did you see your little brother down there in the car seat? Baby Alex?"

"No." Ally laughed.

"Tell me how you really feel," She took a painful step forward, dragging Ava with her. "How was she, mom? Did she behave?"

"Like an angel," Penny replied, "That daughter of yours is sure cute. Reminds me a lot of you when you were young."

"Yeah, I've heard that once or twice," Ally said with a laugh. She looked down at the two-year-old, who was still clinging to her leg. "Ava, you can let go now. We're not going anywhere."

Ava said nothing, wrapping her arms tighter. Ally sighed. "How am I going to take a shower with a little leech on my leg?"

"I not a leech, mommy," Ava said, craning her neck to look up at her mom.

"Right now, you are, yeah," Ally replied. "Austin, can you get her off, please?" He reached down and grabbed his daughter by the legs, but her arms stayed wrapped tight. Austin pulled a little harder, eventually making her release her grip and tumbling backwards onto the floor.

"Ow." Austin winced, rubbing his head with one hand and grabbing Ava's leg with the other as Ally made a break for the upper level (as fast as she could, anyway—right now that was sort of a half-run half-hobble). He dragged her backwards across the wooden floor and into his lap. "Let's leave mommy alone for a little bit, okay?" Ava stuck out her lower lip.

"Where mommy go?"

"She went upstairs to take a shower," Austin said. "Why don't you go back to your chair and I'll get you the apples that grandma cut up for you, okay?"

"Otay."

"Okay." Ava jumped up and went back over to her chair while Austin hoisted himself up off the floor. Penny had grabbed Alex out of his car seat and was bouncing him while pacing slowly.
"So how has Ally been doing?" Penny asked. "I know she said that she was fine, but I could tell that she was still hurting."

Austin bit into an apple slice, shaking his head. "It was all kind of a blur, really. When we got there, they said he was breech, and not ten minutes later she was in the operating room for the C-section. I mean, it just all happened so fast, and the medicine was making it hard for her to breathe, and then when they pulled him out, they took him to the NICU right away..." Austin's voice trailed off, staring at the apple in his hand before shaking his head again. "Yeah. It was a mess."

"Well, I couldn't be prouder of you guys," Penny replied. "It wasn't an ideal situation, but you rolled with it and handled the whole thing like rock stars."

"I'm just glad he's okay," Austin said. "There were so many babies in there, fighting for their lives. Our situation wasn't even that... hard compared to those families." He shook his head. "I won't be surprised if we're done having kids after this, though. That really took a toll on her."

"After going through all that, I would be too," Penny replied with a chuckle. "But honestly, you've got all you ever need right here, with Ava and Alex, your record company, each other..." Austin grinned. "You know, Austin, I never got to properly thank you for being there when she had the panic attack at the wedding," she said, "I noticed a big difference in how she acted after you came to comfort her. And then now, with the C-section and everything..."

"It's okay, Penny," he replied, waving a hand. "I'm her husband. The one at the wedding didn't make me want to marry her any less. It's my job to take care of her, and I've always taken that seriously, even back in high school when we were just friends." He grinned, looking down at the kids. "It's the least I could do after all she's done for me."

A few minutes later Ally came back downstairs. "I'm not gonna lie, that was probably the best shower I've ever taken," she mused as she came through the kitchen, ruffling Ava's hair and pecking Austin on the cheek. "Do you mind if I grab a nap real quick, babe? I maybe got two hours of sleep last night, tops. I'm exhausted."

"Yeah, go right ahead. I've got things under control here."

"Thanks, you're the best."

about one week later

about 5:30 a.m.

Ally groaned and rolled over, pulling the covers over her head at the sound of Alex's wailing. Within a few days of being home, she and Austin had come to the consensus that Ava had been a much calmer baby than Alex was; Alex woke them up five to six times a night while Ava had only woken them up once or twice. She tapped on Austin's arm.

"Austin." No response. "Austin." He grumbled and rolled over.

"What is it, Als?"

"Baby's crying." Austin groaned louder. "It's your turn."

"How did we come to that decision?" he asked, rubbing his eyes and pulling back the covers with a sigh.

"Taking turns," Ally mumbled. "And it's your turn."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it." Austin shuffled over to the bassinet a few feet away, almost tripping over Pickles in the process, who let out a shrill meow and ran away quickly. He picked up his son, leaning the baby against his shoulder and walked out into the hallway, bouncing the baby. Alex's cries didn't let up.

"Are ya hungry, or what?" he asked, knowing very well that the baby couldn't answer. He sniffed his son's bottom, checking if his diaper was full. "Well, diaper's not full," he mumbled to himself. "Mommy must have changed it when you woke up two hours ago." Austin stumbled down to the kitchen, still half-awake, and grabbed a bottle from the fridge. He shook it up and plopped down in the recliner, rocking back and forth as Alex hungrily downed the entire bottle. After he was done, Austin flipped him around so the baby was pressed against his shoulder and started to pat him lightly on the back.

A few minutes later, Austin brought Alex back down and cradled him in his arms as he tried to rock him back to sleep. It took longer for Alex to fall asleep than his dad, though—Austin was asleep within minutes.

When Ava came padding down the hallway and into the master bedroom at around six thirty, Ally finally decided to get up. She put some clothes on Ava and went downstairs, too delirious to notice that Austin wasn't in his usual spot next to her in the bed. Ally stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Austin and Alex both fast asleep in the recliner. She couldn't help but smile at the sight and snapped a photo of it before getting Ava some breakfast.

"Mommy, can we have pancakes?" Ava asked, her little feet making a tap taping noise on the floor.

"Sure, honey," Ally responded, "but remember you have to be quiet. Daddy and Alex are asleep."

"Can we have pancakes?" Ava repeated in a whisper. Ally chuckled.

"Yup. You're definitely your father's daughter."

As the smell of pancakes filled the air, Austin wrinkled his nose. His eyes shot open. "Are you making pancakes?" he asked, craning his neck to see Ally flipping one on the griddle. His lips curled into a smile. "I want some!"

"Relax, Austin, you'll get some," Ally said with a chuckle, "and keep your voice down. You're gonna wake the baby."

"Right, sorry." Austin slowly stood up and placed Alex in the rocking swing, setting it at a slow speed. He stretched and yawned, going into the kitchen and placing a kiss on both Ally and Ava's cheeks. "Mornin', ladies." Ally giggled.

"Good morning to you, too." She poured some more batter onto the griddle. "Are you going into work today?"

Austin sighed. "I don't want to leave you... but I should go in this morning, at least. We have this one new artist who's on the fence about signing with us, but if she does, it could be our big break." He went over to the coffee maker and slid his mug underneath. The past week had been a big adjustment, as Penny had only left to fly back to Africa two days prior. At this point, Austin and Ally were both really starting to miss having an extra set of hands around but knew that they could handle having two young kids— no matter how difficult it might have been at first. "And if anyone can convince her to sign with us, it's Austin Moon himself." Ally nodded. "Will you be okay here by yourself?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me. I'll just be here, cleaning poop and spit-up and popping ibuprofen pills like candy." For Ally, the adjustment had been a bigger one than anticipated due to the amount of pain she was still in from the C-section. She tried to keep a positive attitude and hide her worries from Austin, for the kids' sake, but knew it was only a matter of time before it all became too much to handle.

"You're the best." Austin ran upstairs to get ready and came back down fully dressed on top with a suit and tie, but on the bottom, he wore only his briefs with little trucks on them.

"Austin," Ally said as soon as she saw him, fighting back laughter, "Are you aware that you don't have any pants on?"

Austin looked down and frowned. "Aw man," he said, retreating back up the stairs, "I knew I was missing something." Ally giggled and ruffled her daughter's chestnut brown hair.

"Daddy's silly, isn't he?"

two hours later

"Uhm, Austin?" Xander poked his head into Austin's office at A&A Records, where his boss was snoring not so quietly, his head in his arms, which were both laying flat on the desk. He wondered whether he should bother waking his boss up as he stood in the doorway for a few seconds, drumming his fingers against the metal frame. Xander finally went over to the desk, shaking Austin's shoulder lightly.

"Huh?" Austin snorted, jolting his head upright. "I'm coming honey!" He frowned when he saw Xander standing there. "Oh, it's you."

"It's nice to see you too, honey," Xander joked. Austin shook his head.

"We don't know each other that well yet."

"Yeah, okay." Xander shook his head. "Um, anyways, they need you in the conference room."

"Sounds good, thanks." Xander disappeared from the room and Austin put his head in his hands. How was he going to survive these next few months of work if he wasn't getting any sleep at home? Austin grudgingly stood up from the chair, grabbing his coffee mug before shuffling down the hall to the conference room.

"Ava Marie, put that down!" Ally watched from the recliner in the living room as her daughter ran around the main level of the house, an expensive vase in her hand, giggling mischievously. "Ava! Stop!" Ally wondered if the neighbors could hear all this ruckus, despite the houses not being connected to one another. As if Ally's shouting and Ava's giggling wasn't enough, add in Alex's crying from over in the rocking swing and Paris' obnoxious barking and they were a few decibels away from being reported to the police. They're probably online right now, looking for a real estate agent, she thought. I wouldn't want to be neighbors with us, either.

Deciding enough was enough, Ally stood up from the chair, still holding Alex, and set him in his rocker swing as she started to chase her daughter around the kitchen. Ava circled the island, Ally hobbling close behind, and it was clear that she had no intention of stopping. Ally was starting to get winded, though, and leaned against the counter after she'd run around it about five times, panting heavily. She was trying to be extra careful that she didn't somehow undo the stitches in her incision site, but Ava apparently had other ideas. "Ava...give me...the vase..."

"No, mommy!" Ava squealed, padding into the living room. She was seemingly distracted by the cat, who was somehow snoozing happily on the couch, and put the vase down on an ottoman before patting Pickles on the head rather hard. "Good kitty, good kitty." She then picked the vase back up, suddenly realizing that the cat was more important, and strode back into the kitchen to hand it to her mom. Ally grabbed it and started back over towards the kitchen sink. She walked lazily, not really paying attention to where she was going—she didn't have the energy for that right now— causing her to trip on the leg of one of the chairs and fall on her stomach. The vase slipped from her hands and shattered on the floor in front of her and she yelped in as she crashed to the ground, now pretty certain that all the running around had taken a stitch or two out.

Ally groaned and pushed herself back up, feeling the pain intensifying with every movement. She held up her shaking hands, which had cuts on them from the glass and felt tears slip down her cheeks. She leaned up against the kitchen island, feeling all of the emotions that had been building up the past few days bubble to the surface. Any minute now, she would explode and Ava would have to see her like this. Just hold it in, she thought, Ava deserves better than this. Shaking, she watched as Ava curiously padded into the kitchen.

"Mommy?"

"A-ava, stay back," Ally stuttered. Ava cocked her head in confusion. "The g-glass is sharp."

"Mommy sad?" Ally pushed the glass shards away from Ava with her hand, wincing as the glass made contact with her injured hands.

Ally sniffed. "Yeah."

"Don't be sad, mommy." Ava knelt down and leaned up against her mom's leg while Ally stroked her hair.

"Go play, Ava."

"Otay, mama." Ava retreated to the living room, grabbing one of her dolls, but came toddling right back like a boomerang.

At the sight of her mini-me, Ally finally broke. She curled up against the island, letting the tears flow down her cheeks. Of all the bad things that could've happened on the first day she was alone with the kids, she was pretty sure a panic attack was at the top of the list. Ava sat down on the floor next to her, feeding her baby with a plastic bottle, occasionally looking up at her mom. She talked to the baby softly, but it wasn't in the usually happy, perky manner in which she did so; it was quieter, confused, concerned almost. Eventually Paris came padding over to her, trying to lick her face, but Ally pushed the dog away. She moved over to Ava, who squealed when she felt the roughness of her dog's tongue. Ally bowed her head, looking over her injured hands, which had cuts on them from the glass.

Why is it so hard to take care of these two little humans? Isn't that my job?

After attempting to calm herself down and failing, Ally picked up her phone and scrolled to Austin's contact.

Do I call him?

Don't. He's probably busy doing something important.

I feel like I should...

Don't do it. He'll hate you. You're just a burden to him.

That's ridiculous.

You're a burden. That's all you'll ever be.

"Stop it! Just stop!" she shouted out loud, gulping when she realized she was literally yelling at the voices in her head. She put her head in her hands and let the tears come again as pressed Austin's contact. She set the phone down on the floor next to her and let it ring. Just when Ally was sure it was going to go to voicemail, Austin picked up.

"Ally?"

"Austin..." she croaked, lifting her head up. "You...you picked up."

"Of course, I did." He paused. "Als, is everything okay? You sound like you've been crying." At the sound of his sweet, caring voice, she collapsed into another fit of sobs.

"Ally, I didn't mean to..." Austin ran a hand through his hair. "Als, talk to me." She sniffled loudly and wiped her nose with her hands. On the other end of the line, Austin had just stepped out of a business meeting and was pacing up and down the hall. Is this another panic attack?

Once he'd collected his thoughts, Austin exhaled. He knew that he shouldn't leave work, but he had no choice. They would survive without him. "Ally, I'm coming home. Stay right where you are. Stay on the phone." Ally did as he said, breathing shakily the whole time. Austin removed the phone from his ear, poked his head into the conference room to tell them there was a family emergency, then rushed over to his office to get his keys. He ran out of the building, practically at lightning speed, yanking the car door open and speeding off as soon as he turned the ignition. "I'm coming, Ally."

fifteen minutes later

Austin rushed in the door, dropping his bag and ran right over to console his wife, who was still shaking a little. He wrapped his arm around her as her head fell into his lap. He stroked her hair, whispering, "It's okay. I'm here. Everything is okay now. Just breathe." Austin looked her in the eye, stroking her hair. "That's it. There you go. Can you do the thing you did before? The counting backwards thing?" Ally gave a slight nod and started to count. "That's my girl."

At the sight of her dad, Ava scooted closer, resting her head on Austin's shoulder. He gave her a small grin as she babbled mostly nonsense to her baby doll. They stayed in that position for about five more minutes until Austin looked down at his wife and discovered that she had drifted off to sleep. The room became eerily quiet, and Austin noticed that Alex had stopped crying, too. He assumed that he'd tired himself out from crying and fallen right back asleep.

By this time, Austin was losing feeling in his legs. He so desperately wanted to get up, but if I don't move now, he thought, I might never move again. He grabbed Ally from underneath and slowly got up, bringing her with him. He turned to Ava and told her to go grab a picture book as he set Ally, who was still out cold, down on the couch.

Austin covered his wife with a blanket before going back to the kitchen and sweeping up the glass still scattered on the floor, grabbing some band-aids and a washcloth for Ally's hands, and going back into the living room to tend to her. Ava bounced up and down on the couch, anxiously waiting for story time, as Austin had promised minutes before. He grabbed Alex out of his rocker and plopped down next to her. Ava padded over with a few different picture books from the shelf before situating herself on the couch between her parents. She snuggled against her dad's right side while Austin held the baby with his left arm.

"Let's see, here," Austin said, looking at the books that Ava brought him. "We have 'Love You Forever,' 'Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus,' and, 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar.'" Austin looked down at Ava. "You have good taste in books, Ava," he commented. "...I think. What should we start with first?"

"Wuv you forever," Ava said. Austin nodded.

"That's a good one," he replied, opening up to the first page. "Or so I've heard...I haven't actually read it."

As Austin read, Alex dozed off in his arms. By the end of the book, he was snoring happily, and Ava's eyes were getting heavy. She leaned into her dad's side, sucking her thumb. Austin read the words on the page slowly, nearly tearing up. As he read, he purposely changed baby to babies because unlike the mother in the book, he had three babies: Ally, Ava, and Alex.

"I love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

as long as I'm living,

my babies you'll be."

one year later- october 2026

one week before halloween

Austin slipped off his shoes and threw down his bag as soon as stepped into the house. This week had been particularly exhausting, and he was just glad to be home so he could flop down on the couch and watch some TV.

"Hello?" he called, frowning when he didn't see the other three members of his family. "I'm home!" Suddenly there came a series of thuds from over by the staircase. Ava bounded down them excitedly while Alex slid down them on his bottom—he hadn't quite mastered the stairs yet. Ava appeared at the bottom and ran full speed towards her dad, Alex toddling closely behind.

"Daddyyyy!" Austin scooped Ava up in one arm and Alex in the other, smothering them both with kisses. Paris came running in from the living room, putting her front paws up on Austin's leg.

"Where'd your mom run off to?"

"I'm right here," Ally said, walking down the stairs slower than her kids did, dressed casually in sweatshirt and sweatpants, her hair still untangled. She shuffled toward them, and Austin's smile got bigger.

"You look especially beautiful today," he commented, pecking her forehead. She let out a laugh, grabbing Alex from his arms.

"You don't have to pretend that I look good, Austin. I know I look like crap."

"You could never look like crap." This time, he kissed her directly on the lips. Ava shrieked, covering her eyes.

"Ewww! Mommy and daddy kissed!" Alex looked over at his sister, copying her by putting his little hands over his eyes, too. Ally rolled her eyes and Austin chuckled at the sight.

"Not a fan of PDA, huh?" he mused, "Well, in that case..." He planted another kiss on her lips, making his kids shriek again.

"Kissing is gross!" Ava exclaimed, wiggling out of her dad's arms and running off into the other room.

"We'll see how she feels about that when she's a teenager," Ally said. "So, how was your day? Busy again?"

"Always," Austin replied, "Every day, we get new artists who are interested in signing with us. The whole process is so cool, y'know? A lot more goes on behind the scenes than we think." Ally nodded.

"I wish I could be there with you, but you know how Ava gets around new people—it would take months for her to get adjusted to a daycare setting. I just don't think she's ready quite yet." Austin looked over at her as she set Alex in his booster seat.

"Als, you remember what happened the first day you were alone with them. You were miserable! Don't you think it's time?" he coaxed. "You've gotta let our kids fall on their faces."

Ally gave him a weird look. "I hope you're speaking figuratively."

Austin nodded. "It's like what I said when Ava started walking. We have to let them"—

"Fall on their faces before they get it right, I know," she replied, "But honestly, y'know, I'm doing okay! Sure, I cry every single day and drink an entire bottle of wine every weekend, but hey," she placed a hand on his shoulder, "That's parenthood for you."

Austin put his hand on top of hers. "That's unhealthy." Ally rolled her eyes.

"Since when? It's all part of my process."

"The process of becoming an alcoholic?"

"Austin!"

"What?"

Ally took a breath and let it out slowly. "Let's just drop it, okay?"

"Okay." he paused. "So, you don't want to start looking for daycares?"

Ally bit her lip. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to start looking, because she's gonna have to get used to being around other people eventually... but what about Alex?"

"Send him to daycare, too," Austin said, waving a hand. "He's the exact opposite of Ava. He'll be fine."

Ally nodded. "That's true."

"So, what do you say?"

"Alright," Ally said, "Let's do it."

the next morning

around 8:30 a.m. (ish)

Ally sat on the couch in the living room, scrolling through Amazon and sipping her coffee. Today was one of those rare occasions where both kids had actually slept in, which benefited everybody in the long run. Austin and the kids were still in bed, which meant that she had some time to herself to get some work done... and search for Halloween costumes. So far, she hadn't had any luck finding costumes that had a theme so they could all dress up and go trick-or-treating, and she was starting to think it was impossible. Now that Alex was actually old enough, she was itching for them to spend the holiday together as a family.

Just then, she heard thudding from behind her and turned to find Austin bounding down the stairs, wearing a smug grin. "Ally, guess what?"

She looked back at him, grinning, slightly confused. "What?"

"I found a costume that the kids could wear!" Ally raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yeah! Take a guess!"

"Uh, I... I don't know, Austin, just tell me."

"Baby-lonians!' Ally watched, a grin forming on her face inadvertently as Austin cracked himself up with his joke. She remembered in high school when he pronounced the word wrong, and how he'd gotten so worked up about it but was laughing at it now. She shook her head. "What, don't you like my idea?"

She shook her head again, fighting back laughter.

"What?"

"I think it's funny how you crack yourself up like that," she replied with a smile. "Also, I don't know if that word means what you think it means. Babylonians lived in an ancient Mesopotamian state in, like, 1894 B.C."

Austin's smile faded. "Huh?"

Ally shook her head. "What I'm trying to say is that nobody is gonna know what we are if we dress as Babylonians. Let's just keep looking for costumes, because Halloween is in a week. We don't have a lot of time."

"Well, what else do you suggest?" Ally perked up a bit.

"I was thinking... what about the Incredibles?" Austin thought for a bit before speaking up again.

"Yeah, okay. That'll work."

"Great, because I've already ordered the costumes."

"Wait, what?" Austin asked, "You mean, you ordered them before I even got down here?"

"Correct." Austin groaned.

"You could've at least told me you were ordering them. Now I have no choice but to dress up as... what's his face?"

"Mister incredible...?"

"Yeah, him."

"Well," Ally started, pulling up his costume, which was just a red muscle tank top with the Incredibles logo on it, "If it makes you feel any better, you'll get to show off your so-called muscles." Austin put his arms up and flexed, grinning.

"Actually, it does." He put them down, frowning. "Wait, what do you mean, so-called muscles?"

Ally raised an eyebrow, trying not to let on that she was joking—she was enjoying this. "I mean, I don't see any muscles."

"Bu-wha- what do you mean you can't see my muscles?" Ally snorted, busting into laughter. She hit him on the shoulder playfully.

"You're such a dork."

six days later

halloween

9:00 a.m.

Ally hopped out of bed and ran excitedly down the hall and into the spare room where she'd been keeping the costumes. She and Austin were going to surprise the kids with the theme the day of— "It'll be more fun that way," she'd said, "it can be a new tradition." While Austin initially had complained about it, saying that they should just tell the kids right away, she knew that they would love what she'd planned for them.

And if they didn't, at least it would be amusing for her and Austin.

She grabbed the Amazon boxes and unpacked everything, laying them all out on the floor. A few seconds later, Austin snuck up behind her, pushed the door open silently, and put both hands on her shoulders, yelling, "Boo!"

Ally shrieked in surprise, putting one hand on her heart. "Austin, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" He stood up proudly, hands on his hips.

"Thank you."

"That's not what you're supposed to say in this situation!" she argued, punching him in the shoulder. Austin shrugged and stepped forward.

"You know," he mused, "I wasn't sure about the whole Incredibles thing before. But it's kind of grown on me. Now everyone will get to see my pipes." He looked at her. "Yeah, that's right. I work out."

Ally rolled her eyes. "Anyway, aren't these costumes I got for the kids absolutely adorable? Ava can be Violet and Alex can be Dash. Look, I got masks for everyone, too." She put one of them up to her eyes, smiling at him.

"Yeah, they are. I gotta admit this costume idea of yours was pretty good." Austin said, picking up one of the costumes and holding it up for them to admire. He nudged Ally with his elbow. "So, what's the plan for tonight?"

"Well, I'm thinking that we get one of those pumpkin-shaped pizzas from Papa Murphy's, and then we can take some pre-trick-or-treating pictures and head out."

"We have to take pictures?" Austin complained. "That's no fun."

Ally shrugged. "That's part of my role as the strict parent." She tapped him on the shoulder. "The fun stuff is your job."

Austin grinned. "I am pretty fun, aren't I?" Ally rolled her eyes playfully.

"Yep. Anyway, we should start with the decorations. We only have about..." she checked her phone for the time, "eight hours until people start showing up at our house."

"Yaaaay," Austin said sarcastically, "I can't wait."

5:07 p.m.

"Okay, Ava you stand right there—yup, right in front of daddy. There you go," Ally directed, standing behind the tripod. "And Alex, stay right where you are." She frowned when Alex hopped down off the step and ran towards the driveway. "Wait—no—Alex, get back here!" She groaned and ran after her son, who was getting closer to the street by the second. When she finally caught up with him, she scooped him up and carried him back up the driveway as he giggled mischievously. "Wow, your costume was really fitting. You're getting faster every day, aren't you?

"Yeah, mama." Ally faked a laugh as she got back to where the tripod was sitting and adjusted Alex's position so he was sitting on her left hip. He wriggled and squirmed, but she just gripped him tighter.

"You're not going anywhere, mister." Alex whined in protest as she set the automatic timer and got into position beside Austin. "Look at the camera, guys! Say...pumpkins!"

"Pumpkins!" Ava exclaimed, flashing her best and brightest smile. Alex just stuck out his lip and pouted as the camera flash went off. Ally handed him over to Austin and went to go check out the photos. She shrugged, turning the camera off.

"That's about the best it's gonna get, so," she turned back to Austin and the kids, "let's get going, shall we?"

They took off for trick of-treating around 5:15, piling into Austin's new golf cart (he didn't play golf, but he had recently bought one, just 'cause he wanted to, and though Ally had been mad at him to making such a big purchase without telling her first, she had to admit, it came in handy on nights like these. Plus, he'd already made the down payment and bought insurance for it). Austin sat in the front with Ava, and Ally held Alex in her lap, setting his trick-or-treating bucket beside her. It was a fairly new development—only about six years old—and they'd managed to get around the neighborhood within about an hour. After that, Austin had suggested driving over to his parents' neighborhood to surprise them, so after Ava and Alex had dumped the candy they'd gotten so far on the kitchen table (it was a fair amount) they'd piled in the car and driven over there at around 6:30 (in the car this time, not the golf cart).

Austin pulled into his parents' driveway, grinning, and put the car into park. "Are you guys ready to surprise grandma Mimi and grandpa Mike with your costumes?" he asked. Ava clapped her hands and Alex kicked the back of his dad's seat excitedly, knowing that something was about to happen but not really being sure what it was. Ally unbuckled Ava's car seat and Austin helped his son out of the car, each grabbing the respective child's trick-or-treating bucket with one hand and the child's hand with the other. Austin picked Alex up when they got to the doorstep, setting him on his left hip and knocking on the front door with the other. "Remember to say trick-or-treat, or else you won't get any candy!" he reminded them with a smile.

A few seconds later, Mimi appeared in the doorway with a gigantic bowl of candy. A look of shock appeared on her face when she recognized her son. "Oh my goodness, hi!"

"Trick or treat!" Ava said politely, giving off a big smile.

"What do you say, Alex?" Ally asked her son.

He looked up at her. "Tick or teat?" She nodded, laughing.

"Yeah, now say that to grandma!"

"Tick or teat!" he said proudly, making everyone laugh.

"Well, aren't you kids just adorable! How are you guys, anyway? I haven't seen you in so long! Get in here!" She immediately started giving out hugs to everyone and pinching the kids' cheeks (and Austin's, too, despite his protests), holding the door open for them to walk inside. Austin set Alex down, and he immediately took off running in the other direction. He shrugged, not having the energy to chase after him and listened as Mimi talked both of their ears off. A few minutes later, a confused-looking Mike appeared from the direction that Alex went.

"Honey, do Austin and Ally know that their son is running around our house naked—oh, hey guys!" He immediately greeted his son, giving him a good old fashioned man hug/pat on the back and scooped Ava up in his arms. Ally frowned.

"Wait, Alex took his costume off?" she groaned, disappearing around the corner. "That kid..."

Ally picked his costume up from where it was lying on the dining room floor, one eyebrow raised. Where did he go? She checked in the living room, the laundry room, and the kitchen, but to no avail. Figuring he had to be in the basement, she headed down that direction, closing the door behind her.

ten minutes later

After finally locating him in the downstairs closet, eating a sucker that stained his tongue and teeth bright blue (which made her even more confused, because she thought they'd left all the candy at home), she wriggled his costume back on and brought him back upstairs, carrying his body over her shoulder like a log. "Austin, I think it's time to go. Your son is out of control."

Austin raised his eyebrows. "Oh, so whenever he's in trouble, he's my son?" he turned back to his parents, shaking his head. "I think somebody's getting tired, so we should probably get going. It was nice seeing you guys!" Mimi and Mike showered him and Ava with hugs and kisses again, but not before giving them two individual baggies full of treats for each of the kids. They waved out the front window as Austin pulled out of the driveway.

"Alex reminds me so much of Austin," Mike commented, shutting the door, "I remember when Austin would run around the house naked like that—and not just when he was little."

"I was just thinking the same thing," Mimi replied with a chuckle. "Those Moon boys are somethin' else."

twenty minutes later

Austin scooped Alex out of the backseat as Ally helped Ava unbuckle and grabbed both of their treat buckets. He came in through the door to the garage and Paris greeted them all with a cheerful series of barks.

"Missed you too, Paris," Austin said, setting his son down and patting the dog's head. He flipped on the kitchen lights as Ally locked the door, both simultaneously letting out a tired sigh. "So," he turned to his wife as he threw his keys lazily on the table, "What do you say we get the kids cleaned up and then we can have an acoustic jam session?"

Ally sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I don't know, Austin, it's getting late..."

"Oh, come on!" he interrupted, "It's only, like, 7:30." Ally glared at him.

"Yeah, it is. Are you forgetting that the kids are usually bathed and in bed by 7:30?"

"No," he mumbled, "I just...I want to teach them a new song today." She sighed again, heading towards the staircase.

"Okay, fine. You get one song."

"One song," he repeated. "Got it."

Austin sat on the couch, strumming his guitar impatiently. He could hardly wait for Ally to bring the kids back down so he could teach them "Better Together." So far, he'd introduced two songs to them: "Better Than This" and "Do It Without You." Given that Ava had sang "Do It Without You" around the house for a week straight after he'd taught them the song, he couldn't have been more excited for them to hear this one.

"Okay, Austin," Ally started, coming down the stairs, Ava in front of her and Alex balanced on her right hip, "Make this quick, because Alex really needs to go to bed. They both do, actually." He nodded. Ava and Alex were both in their pajamas and their hair was still wet. Alex's usually tight, curly locks were instead pressed against his head, making it look like he'd put gel in it.

"I will, don't worry." She sat down on the couch, setting Alex in her lap as Ava climbed up right beside her. "Alright, guys. This song is called 'Better Together. 'It's a really fun song, and your mom and I wrote it together when we were teenagers." Ally blushed a little, but tapped her wrist, indicating that they didn't have much time. She and Austin both knew that Alex had an attention span of approximately 0.0003 seconds, and it was only a matter of time before he lost interest.

He strummed a few chords, trying to think of the best way to teach the song to his three-year-old daughter and very hyper one-year-old son. "Okay, so, when I point at you guys, say 'hey!' Got it?"

Ava nodded, making an exaggerated motion, up and down, up and down. "Yeah, daddy."

"Okay, let's try it. Als, you can sing along if you want. That is, if you remember the lyrics." He winked at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Please. You think that I'd forget the lyrics that I wrote myself?" she asked incredulously. "They're all up here." she pointed to her head. "Okay, now seriously, start playing."

"Sometimes, I get in my own way, I need someone to say, hey, what are you thinking?" Ally started to clap on beats 2 and four, making Alex do the same by placing her hands on top of his. Ava eventually caught on and started to clap as well. "Your words are always just in time, it's like a perfect rhyme, like you're not even trying..." Ally, Ava, and Alex clapped along through the rest of the intro (though the kids weren't always on the beat—but that didn't matter, they were doing their best) and when he got to the chorus, he slipped in a, "Ready, here we go," right before.

"Hey," he pointed at the three of them, and they echoed him. "I will always stay by your side forever, 'cause we're better together, hey," he pointed at them again, "There's no other way, we'll make it through whatever, cause we're better together..." He sang another verse and the chorus again before moving to the outro. As much as he wished they could jam out more, he saw Alex's eyelids drooping a little bit and knew that he had to wrap things up.

"a-hoo, hoo, hoo, a-hoo, hoo hoo hoo..." Ally started to clap and Ava looked over, copying her mom. Alex's eyes shot open and he looked around, confused as to why the music had stopped.

"Say, 'yay, daddy'!" Ally exclaimed, grabbing Alex's wrist and putting it in the air.

"Yay, daddy!" Ava shouted, clapping harder. "Again, again!"

"Sorry, sweetheart, but it's time for bed," Austin replied, taking his guitar off and setting it on the ground. "But maybe another time, okay?" Ava's facial expression immediately changed from one of excitement to disappointment.

"Okay, daddy."

"Okay. Now, let's get you ready for bed, huh?" He led Ava up the stairs and into her room, where she climbed into bed without prompting, pulling the covers up to her chest and lying flat against the pillow in anticipation. Every night since she was a baby, Austin had always come into her room to tuck her into bed, and it had become a tradition of theirs. He grinned as he came in the room behind her, getting down on one knee beside the bed. Austin carefully tucked the blanket into the space between Ava's torso and the bedsheets, then leaned down to give her a kiss on the forehead.

"I love you, Ava."

"I love you too, daddy."

I don't know about you guys, but I have "Better Together" stuck in my head now lol. Thank you guys for your continued support of this! I love you ALL, and thanks so much for coming on this journey with me! Stay safe, love youuuu! *Muah* -Ej :)

p.s. sometimes I amuse myself way too much writing this stuff...I laughed at the line about Alex running around the Moons' house naked for a solid thirty seconds...