Chapter 2
Upon arriving at the park, they spotted Jenna, Jacob, and Kaitlyn in the parking lot. After gushing over Angie and DJ's "Just like Daddy" costumes, Kaitlyn said, "Everyone looks so good!"
"Uncle Joseph! Your ears!" Jacob said, cracking up. "But why didn't you get a trunk, too?"
"I think people will get the idea without the trunk," Joseph said. He had on a gray t-shirt, wire frame glasses, and a gray ball cap with felt elephant ears sewn to each side.
"And if he got a trunk, I would've had to get a pig nose," Elizabeth added, looping her arm through her husband's. She was dressed in a pink t-shirt, with pig ears on a headband on her head.
"I loved those books," Jacob said. "Elephant and Piggie are the best."
"And Grandma Ang is the Pigeon!" Kaitlyn squealed, noting Ang's light blue shirt with a matching hat. They had sewn a large eye on each side of the hat and put a piece of yellow felt on the bill to represent the beak.
"Always a favorite at our house," Jenna said.
"We've been reading a lot of Mo Willems lately," Elizabeth said with a smile at her beaming grandchildren. "So we decided to use his books as a costume theme."
"And we're not the only ones who went with a theme this year," Ang said, nodding to the three Allens.
Jacob wore a large piece of yellow felt draped over a strip of cardboard across his shoulders so it hung down his front and back in an approximate square. On his head he wore a blue ball cap with the Kraft Singles logo taped above the bill. Kaitlyn had cut a large piece of white felt in a large squiggly shape and likewise draped it over her shoulders, with a yellow circle sewn onto the front. Jenna had on a plain yellow t-shirt with black leggings with a big white S on the front of the shirt. She wore a black superhero eye mask, and in her belt she had a spatula.
"Egg Woman, Cheese Dude, and The Scrambler," Catherine said with a chuckle. "Those are fantastic."
"I'm actually surprised we never thought to do them before," Jenna said.
"Uncle Danny, Aunt Gabby, you did a book theme, too," Kaitlyn said.
They wore black pants and red T-shirts emblazoned with THING 1 and THING 2 emblems. Danny had a blue ball cap with a halo of fuzzy hair attached and Gabby had donned a blue headband that matched.
"Cute, you two," Jenna said with a grin. "Whose idea was it?"
Exchanging a glance, both said, "Grace's" before chuckling.
"She saw these when she was picking out a costume and brought them home," he explained. Pointing to the Rollinses and Ang, he grinned. "Lots of ball caps this year. The mark of 'my kid is grown and this is easy.'"
"Hey, I've got a ball cap on, too!" Jacob protested with a grin.
"Because you are cool beyond your years." The detective winked and tapped the bill of Jacob's hat.
"Can we go to the haunted house now?" Angie asked, practically ready to burst.
"Guess we better listen to the head of Five-0," Gabby teased, and the group headed toward the park.
At the entrance of the event, Angie greeted the teen who was taking tickets. Pointing to her badge, she announced, "I'm on the team like my Daddy and Uncle Danno," with a grin. "Uncle Chin and Auntie Kono are too. They're not here for the haunted house, but they're coming over for trick or treating."
"You're Five-0, that's a great costume," the girl who was dressed as Velma from Scooby Doo told the excited five year old. "Ohh and a Navy SEAL, that's great, too." She smiled at the group.
"I'm my daddy when he was a SEAL," DJ said with a huge smile that encompassed the girl and Steve whose hand he was holding.
"Awesome." She fixed a wristband on each person while Angie explained how her mommy and daddy were goats like her friend Felix. "That's really cool," she said. "You all have fun, okay? There's lots to do."
"We will!" Angie and DJ said.
"What do we want to do first?" Danny asked with a knowing grin.
"Haunted house!" Angie said immediately.
As the group made their way towards the dilapidated looking structure with spooky noise being piped outside by way of hidden speakers Catherine took DJ's hand and slowed down a little until they found themselves at the back of the pack.
"Do you want to go into the haunted house?" she asked. "It's perfectly okay if you don't."
"I think I want to try." DJ bit his lip. "Uncle Danny said it isn't super duper scary."
"Uncle Danny is right." Catherine knelt to look DJ in the eyes. "It's more surprising than anything else. Like when Angie hides behind the door then jumps out and scares you."
DJ grinned. "She loves that game."
"Yes, she does." Catherine squeezed his hands. "And you're a very good big brother for playing it so often. But these people are gonna be bigger than Angie and wearing costumes."
DJ glanced at the structure in front of them, took a deep breath and looked at his mother. "I'm gonna do it. Being dressed like daddy makes me feel braver."
Catherine kissed him on top of the head. "I'll be right beside you the whole way."
"Let's go!" Angie took her father's hand and tugged him towards the entrance.
"Remember that first year? I was afraid to go in at all," Kaitlyn said to Jacob. She giggled. "Look at Angie."
"She's not afraid of anything, though." Jacob grinned. "I was holding onto Aunt Catherine and Uncle Steve. She's dragging him in."
"Kaitlyn, Jacob, c'mon!" the five year old called excitedly and the siblings shared a laugh and caught up.
"I'll meet you at the exit," Grandma Ang said and gave a wave to the kids.
"I'll walk you around and wait with you," Gabby offered, and Kaitlyn stepped up and smiled. "Aunt Gabby, you can go in. I still don't love people jumping at me," she said, lowering her voice so the younger kids wouldn't hear. Not that she thought anything would concern Angie, but she didn't want to take any chances that they might think the haunted house which was geared for younger kids would be scarier than it was.
"That's so sweet, both of you," Ang patted Kaitlyn's hand with a knowing glance at Gabby.
"If you're sure, Kaitlyn," Gabby said while the teenager looped her arm for Ang to take.
"Totally. C'mon, Grandma Ang, let's go. We'll get some apple cider slushies while we wait."
"That sounds delicious, my treat," the great grandma said with a smile for Jenna, who was watching the exchange with a tiny, proud grin for her daughter.
"Okay, let's go. We can check out the craft booth by the exit, too, and there's a bunch of seats right there."
Jacob high fived his sister and hugged Ang. "See you on the other side," he said with a little wave as he and his mother followed Danny and Gabby to the entrance.
"I wish Grace coulda come with us," Angie said as they entered the first room of the haunted house.
"She's going to a party with her friends tonight," Steve replied. "She just came by because she wanted to see everybody's costumes. You'll see her again on Halloween."
"Are Grace's friends gonna be wearing costumes at her party?" Angie asked.
Steve's eyes caught movement in the corner of the room and he knew someone was about to jump out. "I think so," he said just as a mummy emerged from the shadows, moaning loudly.
Angie shrieked. Not with terror but with delight.
"You scared me!" she told the costumed character. "You look very, very scary!"
A second later Catherine and DJ stepped into the room followed closely by Danny, Gabby, Jenna, and Jacob. Elizabeth and Joseph pulled up the rear. The mummy raised his arms and moved towards them, still moaning.
DJ screamed and squeezed Catherine's hand for just a second before looking up at her and saying, "Definitely bigger and scarier than Angie. But I'm ok."
By the time they reached the third room in the haunted house, everyone in the group, but especially Angie and DJ, were thoroughly enjoying themselves. They were both looking into every dark corner, watching for the next scary surprise.
As they entered the room set up as a parlor a coffin sitting along the wall creaked open and several fake bats, propelled along on nearly invisible strings, took flight. Seconds later a young man dressed up as a vampire sat up slowly. "Do any of you have any bloooood? I'm very thirsty," he said.
After a round of surprised shrieks Angie turned to the young man playing the role of Dracula. "You should be very, very nice to your bats. They're not scary at all. They do lots of good things like eat bugs and help the environment." She turned around. "We'll have to tell Kaitlyn we saw bats."
"That's right," Jenna said with a broad smile. "She'll be thrilled to know you're defending them."
Elizabeth was almost sure she saw the costumed vampire fighting back a smile.
They emerged from the haunted house flushed with excitement and ready for a treat. They spotted Kaitlyn and Grandma Ang sitting on a bench about fifty yards away.
"Come on,"Angie said excitedly. "I wanna show Grandma Ang my prize and tell Kaitlyn about the bats."
"Tattoos, crayons, bracelets, glow sticks." Catherine looked at Jacob and smiled. "They're still giving out the same prizes as they were the first time we came."
The group headed towards Kaitlyn and Ang but were intercepted partway by Archie Mack, a small-time lobbyist trying to make a name for himself in Oahu politics. Catherine had tangled with him on a few occasions and found him to be quite full of himself with no real reason to be.
"Well, fancy seeing you here," he said with a smile that looked nothing close to sincere. "Catherine, you look lovely." He turned to Steve. "We've never met, Commander. My name is Archie Mack. I work with the Townsend Group. We're striving to make Oahu both stronger and safer. I'd love to have a chance to talk to you about some of the initiatives we support."
"I'm here with my family," Steve said politely. "If you want to make an appointment you can call HQ."
"Thanks," Archie said. "I'll do that."
Steve and Catherine shared a look that Danny could read a mile away. No way this guy was ever gonna get a sit down appointment with Steve.
"Hey, you two look great," Archie said to Angie and DJ. "A Navy SEAL and a Five-0 task force member. You're both dressed like your daddy."
"I catch all the bad guys," Angie said. "And DJ is dressed like Daddy from a long time ago before his hair started getting white."
Steve laughed and tickled Angie's tummy.
"That must sting a little," Archie said smarmily to Catherine. "Both kids decided to dress like their father instead of you."
Catherine shook her head. This guy wasn't worth her time and she certainly wasn't going to take his bait. "Actually," she said sincerely. "I'm thrilled. I can't think of anyone better they could have chosen."
THE END
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