Prompt #102: The girls force Rollisi into a family Halloween costume

Halloween Family Costume

~oOo~

One

September 2023

Amanda Rollins pulls her Jeep into the parking lot of the girls' new school. They really lucked out that the girls were actually going to be able to go to the same school. Billie was just in pre-school, but this elementary school was testing out having one on site. It was one of the many reasons she and Sonny Carisi chose the house they did. When Amanda's father passed away, it turned out he did have a life insurance policy. And much to the chagrin of his young (soon-to-be ex) wife Amber Lynne, he named Amanda the sole beneficiary. It had been quite a bit of money, which she shared with her mother and since her sister was still in prison, she set up a trust for her nephew, Mason. When she and Carisi sat down and thought about what to do with her portion, it just made sense. Buy a house. One that the girls would grow up in. A house with its own yard and an incredible park nearby. Yea, it meant a longer commute to work, but they were able to carpool most of the time. The days driving in reminded them of the so called 'good ole days' when they were partners. It wasn't a bad thing, although if anyone asked either Amanda or Sonny, they would unequivocally say that the good days truly started back in May of 2021...when she finally let her walls down, and kissed him, changing their lives, forever.

They'd never have been able to afford to live here without that money as the down payment on the house. It made the mortgage affordable between both their salaries.

Amanda never saw herself as the type to settle down or own a house in the suburbs of New York City. She thought for sure she'd live in an apartment in Manhattan forever. She also thought she'd never get married either, but lately, that was becoming an inevitability she was really looking forward to. When she saw the looks on the girls faces the first time they brought them house hunting...she knew. It was going to happen. They beamed every time they got to see a house with a yard, even a small one. The girls deserved this. And she had to admit, imagining Carisi, manning a grill with one hand and holding Billie in the other…or decorating the outside of the house for Halloween and Christmas…that clinched it. As much as she told herself, it's for the girls…it was just as much her dream now…because this perfect house in the suburbs, came with the perfect (for her) man.

Several things came into play with the house they chose. First, the house itself. Amazing. Built in the 20s, it had all the same charm as some of the older apartments Amanda had seen in the city. It needed some TLC, which is another reason it was affordable to the two of them. Big enough for a home office for Carisi, and the girls could have had their own bedrooms. In the end, Billie and Jesse decided they wanted to stay together, which warmed Amanda's heart. Then there was the amazing public school situation. This meant Billie would have Jesse close by in case she got a little homesick her first year. Oh, and the neighbors who'd introduced themselves, when Amanda and Sonny were only there to look at the house... Amanda had been afraid of what to expect out here, would the whole neighborhood be full of Stepford wives who just sat home and waited on their husbands' hand and foot. But no, the neighbors made Amanda breathe a deep sigh of relief after meeting them. To one side was a lovely couple. Aria was an artist, who currently had a show in a gallery in Red Hook, and Lisa was a teacher, who had just taken a job teaching at the middle school the girls would be going to someday.

So, they'd taken the plunge and bought the house over the summer, giving the girls some time to get to know other kids in the neighborhood before school started. And now, here they were. First day. Amanda and Sonny had planned to drop them off together, but he had an early arraignment he couldn't get out of. He promised he'd be there to pick them up after school though. There was even an on-site daycare where Billie could stay until Jesse got out of school. Sienna would still work for them, though now it was part time. Since Sienna had started grad school full time, it worked out fine with her new school schedule.

Amanda glanced up at the mirror and was happy to see both her girls grinning as they pulled up and saw the other kids. She'd been a little worried that even though she seemed really excited, Billie might get clingy when it came to the day. So far so good. When Sonny left for work this morning, he looked more nervous than they did. He hugged each one of them just a little bit longer than usual, before kissing their foreheads and promising to be there when school let out.

"I can't wait to hear all about your first day." He stood up, glancing at Amanda. She didn't miss the glisten of tears in the corners of his eyes. The girls ran back to finish breakfast, while he pulled Amanda into his arms. She kissed his neck and held him tight. She knew he'd been looking forward to dropping them off, like it was a parental rite of passage he felt like he was missing out on. This would be the first time for him. First time he'd be "daddy"… A title he absolutely adored and waited so patiently for.

She whispered, "you know, this actually works out better. Now they have one of us dropping them off and picking them up." Amanda felt him nod, then emotion caused him to clear his throat before he let her go. She held his face in her hands. There were specific moments in their lives she knew she'd remember forever, times when she couldn't believe how much she loved this man. This was one of them. She pulled his face down to hers, kissing him deeply.

"Woooowoooowoooo!" The girls giggled from the table, watching the two of them. Sonny smiled against her lips, then dipped her backwards, dramatically, showing off for the girls. He held her tight, and she ran her hands through his hair to meet behind his head, kissing him back with just as much fervor. When he pulled her back up, and they parted, he kissed her forehead, just like he had the girls.

"Love you." He held onto her hand with one of his as he reached for his keys off the hook on the wall and picked up his briefcase.

"Love you too, have a good day at work, Darlin." The grin on Amanda's face wasn't lost on him. She'd joked more than once about him wanting her to partake in this suburban life because he had some kind of fascination with 1950s tv shows. The ones with traditional families, where the wife kisses the husband goodbye in the morning, telling him to 'have a good day, Darling' then she'd have a chilled martini, and dinner in the oven, waiting for him when he got home. He'd joked right back with her saying if that was the case, they both knew that he was going to be the one who had dinner and a drink waiting for her when she got home.

"I'll make sure that martini is nice and chilled when you get home." He kissed her one more time before grabbing his jacket and heading for the door.

"Bye girls, I love you," he called, their response making him freeze for just a second at the threshold. Amanda knew how much it meant to him, to hear it echoed back from the girls he'd loved their whole lives.

"Bye Daddy! Love you!" They both called out in unison, attention back on the breakfast he'd woken up thirty minutes early to make for them.

Amanda now held Billie's hand as she walked behind Jessie towards the school main doors. They'd had a parents night letting them know what to expect. The school had mentioned it's better for the preschool age kids not to have the parents linger on the first day, Amanda knew she probably wouldn't be walking her all the way in. Jesse saw one of her friends and waved frantically.

"That's Kayla! Momma, can I go?" Amanda pulled on her backpack, stopping in the walkway for a second.

"Gimme a kiss first." She bent down to Jesse's level, and Jesse turned, kissing her mom and wrapping her arms around her.

"I love you, baby girl." Amanda's eyes clenched shut. They grow up so fast.

"Love you, Momma!" And with that, Jesse skipped off to walk in with her friend.

Amanda looked down at Billie, who, for the first time, started to look a little nervous.

Amanda tapped Billie's nose, making her smile.

"And I love you too, my Billie…remember what daddy said? He's gonna be here waiting for you when school's done, and if you get scared, Jesse's here. Ms. Perez said she could bring her to your room.

"I'm not scared, Momma. I'm a strong Rollins girl." Amanda's heart filled with love for her daughter, and for Sonny Carisi. How many times had he called them that? His strong beautiful Rollins girls…his words giving her baby strength to face her first day of school… 'Don't cry!' she told herself. Just then Ms. Perez spotted them. She and the teacher's aide had been trying to meet the kids out here, when they could. She approached them, excited and giving them a million-watt smile.

"Billie! We've been waiting for you! You ready to have a super fantastic first day at school?"

Billie smiled back, suddenly shy, but managing to nod.

"We're a tiny bit nervous." Amanda smoothed her youngest daughter's hair.

"Oh, we are, huh?" Ms Perez gave her a knowing smile. "I promise, she's gonna be so excited when you come to pick her up." She glanced around. "Mr. Rollins couldn't make it?"

This wasn't the first time someone at the school called him that. One of these days they'd make it official and give all four of them the same last name…Carisi? Maybe Rollins-Carisi?

"Actually, Counselor Carisi had court early this morning, isn't that right, Baby." Amanda looked down at Billie as she stood up. Billie nodded.

"Oh, right, right, I'm so sorry. I forgot." Ms. Perez turned a little red. Carisi had explained on parents' night (the other time she called him Mr. Rollins) that they weren't married…yet.

"It's fine. Truth be told, I think he kinda likes when people call him that…but he's uh, he will actually be the one to pick them up this afternoon."

Reluctantly, Amanda let her baby girl go with Ms. Perez to her classroom without her. She stood and watched them until they disappeared into the throng of kids entering the building. Stoically trying to be a strong Rollins girl.

~oOo~

Sonny Carisi was there twenty minutes early to pick the girls up from school. The guilt over not being there that morning ate at him all day, even though Amanda had told him it was even better this way. He just wanted to be there for them on every single milestone from now on. As he waited, leaning against the new Audi his promotion allowed him to afford, he flipped through the 27 photos he'd taken this morning. Both Jesse and Billie standing next to the 'First Day' chalkboard signs he made with the girls. He was so proud of both of them. Sending the best pics to his mom, her mom, Liv, Mia, Sienna, Kat, Fin. He sent them to so many people, including a few judges and Ms. Maxwell. He didn't even need to bother posting to social media. He and Amanda both had private accounts with only their family and close friends on them, and he'd literally sent the pics to all of them individually too.

Suddenly the peaceful quiet was shattered by the sound of a bell, then like a flood, squealing kids started pouring out of the doors. Rather than wait in line with all the other parents, he'd actually parked his car. He thought he could walk with the girls for a while through the school grounds so they could tell him all about their day. He waited patiently for his girls, and finally when most of the throng had dissipated, he caught a glimpse of them.

Carisi's heart skipped a beat when he saw Jesse holding Billie's hand, leading her out. Jesse was such a good big sister, he thought. They hadn't noticed him yet, and he saw Jesse listening to Billie babble on about something. Finally, she lifted her head, to start looking around for him. They searched the line of cars first. Then Jesse's eyes fell on him, and her whole face lit up.

"Daddy!" She grinned, and Billie looked up, and let go of Jesse's hand to run straight to him.

"Daddy!" She echoed her sister's excitement, bounding down the sidewalk and leaping into his waiting arms. Jesse skipped behind her, cognizant of the safety patrol who would surely yell at her for running on the concrete. When she reached him, Sonny pulled Jesse into his arms, easily lifting her too.

"I missed you girls today! Tell me all about it! How was your first day?"

The two of them started, in unison, both talking so fast he could barely keep up. It made him laugh, and he put them down. He held his hands out, each one of the girls taking one. The school had a really nice playground and he meandered through it as they took turns telling him everything about their day. Stopping at the swings where he pushed the girls for a while, until they'd gotten most of the excitement out of their systems.

On the walk back to the car, he carried both backpacks as they walked hand in hand.

"Daddy, I forgot", Jesse started. "There's a party at school for Halloween." She paused.

"Ooh, that sounds like fun, we'll have to figure out what you're gonna be this year." He squeezed her hand as they reached the car.

"Each grade picked one person, and they're gonna get to have their family there all day…and I got picked from my class!" She paused again. Carisi could hear the hesitation in her voice. She knew her parents had busy jobs and her hesitation was likely worrying they couldn't make it. In that moment, he knew he was going to make that happen, no matter what. He and Amanda would find a way to be off that day.

"What? So, we get to be with you at school all day? That's awesome!" He was helping her into the booster seat in his car, after getting Billie into her car seat. His excitement matched hers, which was over the top. Clearly this honor had made Jesse's day, maybe her whole year.

"Yea! And I already know what our costume's gonna be!" She grinned at him, and it was at that moment, he realized he was gonna have to wear a costume.

"Okay." He gave her a big dramatic sigh. "Lay it on me kid." He had her all buckled in and squatted at the door while she told him her idea.

On the short drive home, he grinned the whole way. Sonny couldn't wait to see Amanda in her costume. He got butterflies just thinking about it. Among other feelings…

~oOo~

To really play up the joke from this morning, when Sonny heard Amanda open the front door an hour later, he pulled a beer out of the fridge, popped the top off, and met her at the front door.

"How was your day, Dear?"

Amanda laughed and took the beer from him and wrapped both arms around his neck. She brought her body flush to his and captured that pouty bottom lip of his between hers. His hands fell to her waist, before dropping lower, squeezing and holding her against him. Letting her feel how she awakened his passion for her. She moaned into the kiss, the hand not holding her beer raking down the front of his shirt. She stopped just short of his belt before breaking the kiss.

"Where are the girls?" she asked, breathlessly.

He kissed her again, then forced himself, regretfully, to put some space between them.

"Out back playing with Frannie." Not nearly enough time, even for a quickie if the girls were unsupervised outside. Frankly there was no such thing as a quickie with Amanda…their first night together proved that. This would have to wait till later, when the girls were in bed.

One of his favorite things (there were so many) about living with the Rollins girls, was getting to put the girls to bed nearly every night. What he loved just as much was the time afterwards, alone with Amanda. They were still in this 'crazy in love' phase. The one where they never get tired of each other. He'd been in other relationships over the years, they both had. Nothing compared to this. Of course, he'd never loved anyone as much as he loved Amanda Rollins either. Been well over two years and he still thought about her…all day long. It wasn't always sex he thought about. She was still his best friend. So he thought about how he couldn't wait to have the whole family around the dinner table, and how he and Amanda would watch her terrible reality shows after the kids went to bed. And yes...he thought about what happened after that too. And sometimes in the middle of the night...and sometimes first thing in the morning. Amanda had confided in him that he was on her mind a lot too. You would think finally getting together would quell some of that fire…but no.

For him, every time he passed those big marble columns in the courthouse, memories of that first night together would come flooding back. They couldn't keep their hands off each other, between the courthouse, his office, and then later back at her apartment...he'd lost track of how many times they had sex that first weekend together. They'd never really moved on from that phase. Hopefully, they never would.