There was a chorus of very satisfied utterances from the family room of the Mayford home.
Bellies full of the best confectionery Hell could scrounge up (not to mention generous last helpings of pumpkin pie and hot chocolate), Verosika, Wally, Rayne and Tara sprawled upon their lush leather furniture in states of very surfeited bliss.
Wally absently smacked his lips, working chewy toffee out from between his fangs with a toothpick. Tara had the dreamy half-asleep expression of a kid coming slowly down from a sugar rush at just the right time. She'd be fast asleep in minutes, and either her mother or her father would probably have to carry her up to her bedroom - once they felt like moving again. Then again, the lounge suite was so sumptuous a single night spent asleep on it couldn't hurt.
"That was nice," Rayne murmured from his repose on the ottoman.
"Mm-hmm," Verosika hummed her agreement, one hand running soothing circles over her candy-stuffed stomach. She stifled a hiccup and let her head loll back.
"...'s'like being a kid again…" her son slurred, a little bit quieter. He'd probably be dozing off soon enough as well. In fact, sleep sounded quite the attractive proposition right at this moment.
In her peaceful repose of fullness, Verosika found herself reminded of the times she had gone trick-or-treating with Rayne when he was young (or, more commonly, seen him off trick-or-treating with Wally). How her little boy had been bursting with sugar-fueled enthusiasm for the whole evening.
She'd never gotten to properly indulge in the experience before her retirement - she was a famous pop-star who'd had to watch her weight meticulously and couldn't set one foot in public without being mobbed. Many of her past Halloweens had been spent doing lascivious photoshoots and exclusive concerts in spookily skimpy threads.
She'd never even gone trick-or-treating herself as a child. Her mother hadn't allowed it.
But that was all behind her. How could she mourn what her past self missed out on when the present had gifted her with something far far better; with lingering sweetness on her tongue and a sated belly and the fresh memories of her family's pervasive laughter and delight.
There was something so earnestly, innocently delightful dressing up for the hell of it and eating altogether too much sweet food without a care in the world - so different to Beelzebub's gala nights, so different to the high dining of Envy, so different to even piling on the couch with her family for movie nights.
With Wally, with Rayne, and with Tara, Verosika had had 5 years in a row of the best Halloweens she could ask for - 6 if you counted the Halloween before Tara was born. And this might just have been the best one yet. Tonight, for all that she was a fat middle-aged succubus mom, Verosika had really felt like a little girl going out with her treasured family.
"It is," she echoed, languidly.
"Mmm?"
Oh yeah, that's right. She had left a long pause there, hadn't she. Tara had already begun to softly snore.
"I feel like a kid again too," Verosika finished at leisure, sleep starting to tug at her eyelids. "This was...the best Halloween ever."
"...I say, I'm so...damned happy for you, darlin'..." Wally yawned.
She lazily reached out until her hand found her hubby's shoulder, and she gave it a gentle squeeze. "Happy Halloween, everybody."
"I say, I say, Happy Halloween…"
"...h'ppy Halloween, Mom..."
And with that, the four Wackford-Maydays surely fell fast asleep in the chocolate-scented comfort of their home.
