"Leo, Allison, come on! Mama's going to be home any minute and we want to be ready for her, right?"
"Yes Papa!" The kids replied.
Owen Hunt had taken the entire day to prepare for his wife's arrival. It was the first Halloween that they both had the night off since the kids were too young to fully understand and appreciate what Halloween was. Plus, Halloween was Teddys second favorite holiday and it had been awhile since Owen prepared a grand gesture for her.
Things between them had been hard. They still loved each other deeply, but Owen's legal issues and actions had set them back financially and emotionally. They hadn't been talking much, just bickering and it was exhausting for them and every one around them. The only intimacy they had lately was physical and even then, it always felt like something was missing afterwards.
Ultimately, he missed his friend. Teddy Altman was the love of his life, wife and mother of his children, but she would first and foremost be his best-friend, always. And all he wanted his friend back.
Little did he know, Teddy was feeling the exact the same way.
Regardless of how she was feeling about him at the present moment, he was determined to make this night special for her.
So all day the kids and Owen decorated the house with spooky decorations, went shopping for party plates and cups and gathered up all of Teddy's favorite sweet treats they could find, like dark chocolate cupcakes with vanilla orange frosting and candy corn toppers.
"Mama's gonna be so happy right daddy?" Allison beamed.
"I hope so, princess." Owen smiled and ruffled his sweet daughters loose blonde curls.
He couldn't believe how fast his youngest was growing up. She was already three and a half years old. He remembers holding her in his arms for the first time, all 7 pounds and 8 ounces of her. So small, and delicate. The perfect mix of him and Teddy. Now, she was a feisty, strong little girl with her mothers attitude, fathers eyes and both of their kind hearts.
"Will mommy like our costumes?" Leo asked.
That was another surprise, their costumes. Leo and Allison were very adamant about wanting to keep their costumes a secret until Teddy came home that night.
"Oh I definitely think so, Major!" Owen replied and saluted his little solder. Yes, Leo was a mini Major Hunt.
"What about me, what about me?" Allison yelled. She couldn't stand not being the center of attention for too long.
"Oh yes, very much so Dr. Altman-Hunt!"
Allison nodded proudly to her dad.
She was a mini heart surgeon. Owen even had a tiny lab coat specially made for her, to look just like Teddy's. Of course with her name on it, Dr. Allison E. Altman-Hunt.
Just then Owen's phone went off, it was a text from Teddy.
"Hey. On my way home. Kids ready for trick or treating?"
Owen texted back a quick "yes," and had the kids get ready to hide and jump out, "Happy Halloween!" for when Teddy walked in the front door.
Soon after, Teddy pulled into the driveway and the kids couldn't contain their excitement hearing their mom get out of her car.
Teddy was confused and taken aback when she noticed all of the lights inside were turned off. Something was up…
"What the…?" She mumbled to herself as she walked up the steps and carefully opened the front door to her home.
Then to her surprise, the lights suddenly flashed on, and her sweet kids jumped out from behind the couch and shouted, "Surprise! Happy Halloween mommy!"
Teddy was shocked. But so happy, she started crying.
"Oh my god! Hi! Oh, you guys look great!"
The kids ran over and she embraced her sweet children. She hadn't felt this happy in months. Suddenly Owen came out of the hall with his sweet, huge, hesitant smile.
"Happy Halloween, Teddy. You like it?" He asked.
She couldn't help but melt. The place looked great, her kids looked amazing in their costumes and they were so happy and excited. And Owen did all of this. Her sweet, huge hearted, Owen.
"Owen…" Teddy smiled through her tears, "you did all of this?"
He walked over, took her face gently in his hands and wiped away her stray tears with his thumbs.
"Teddy, Halloween is your favorite holiday next to Christmas. We've been through a lot…I…I've put you and this family through a lot and, you deserve the best. I wanted this tonight to be perfect…come here."
He kissed Teddy slowly and passionately on the lips.
"I love you. Happy Halloween." He whispered.
"I love you." She replied.
"Yuck!" Leo and Allison shouted. Although they were too young to truly understand, they hadn't seen their parents this happy in a long time.
Teddy and Owen cracked up, giving each other one last quick kiss and hug before having a Halloween cupcake each and heading out for trick-or-treating with Meredith, Amelia and their kids.
Later, once the kids had crashed from the sugar, excitement, fun of the night and were put to bed, Teddy and Owen took some time for themselves.
"Owen, thank you so much for tonight, truly…" She said and nestled into his warm chest.
"You're welcome honey…" he replied, kissing her forehead.
"You know, up until now, my favorite Halloween was the one when we were in Baghdad, where you set up an Easter egg hunt for me, and filled them with candy hearts?" She laughed, "you mixed up a bunch of holidays in one but it was such a sweet gesture."
Owen nodded and smiled. He remembered vividly. Every memory he's had with Teddy, he remembered vividly.
"But," Teddy continued, "this one definitely topped it…"
"Yeah?" Owen asked and perked up.
"Yeah!" Teddy explained, "I mean, we've been put through the wringer, life hasn't been easy. And I know I haven't been the best communicator but, you put in such a great effort tonight. And the kids! The kids looked amazing and were so happy. That's all I could ever want. You and our happy, healthy, beautiful kids…"
"I'm glad, Teddy. You know all I've ever wanted to do for the rest of our lives is make you and the kids feel happy and safe."
"I know." Teddy replied and kissed him deeply.
After a few minutes of kissing and cuddling, Teddy had a question for her husband.
"Hey, Owen?"
"Mmmm?"
"How would you feel about adding one more pumpkin to our patch?" She asked.
Owen froze and Teddy looked up at him with puppy dog wide, teary green eyes, with a beaming smile on her face.
"What? Are we?"
Teddy sat up and nodded quickly.
Owen's jaw dropped with a simultaneous giant smile spreading across his face.
"I was waiting for the results all day, I had a blood test done this morning just to be 100% sure and Carina's email just came in a few minutes ago! I was waiting for the perfect moment to tell you."
Owen took Teddys face in his hands, and kissed her passionately. He was crying. He was elated. She was crying too. They had talked about trying for a third before everything went down last spring. But now, he was repairing things, and he and Teddy would be bringing another beautiful baby into the world.
This was the best Halloween yet.
