"Darling?, How long do you think it will take before we find out what Nicky's vision actually meant?", Jack asked his wife. Sally lay by his side in their bed. She watched the amber firelight flicker across the walls.
"I don't know."
Jack scratched his skull. It was quite late. He and his queen had shared a particularly splendid amorous encounter shortly after retiring for the evening. He was content and sated. By all logical accounts he should have fallen asleep hours ago. Instead, he sat awake, restless.
"It doesn't usually take too long Jack.", Sally said, touching his chest.
"Well. Sometimes it takes awhile. Sometimes it takes nine months.", Jack said plainly. He referred to an enigmatic vision had by Sally on the day their sons were conceived.
"Yes, but…I really think we could have deciphered that one if we had put our minds to it.", Sally breathed. Her husband laughed.
"Come now. Hindsight is twenty-twenty after all." He squeezed Sally closer to him and she smiled. Jack kissed her hair, then rose from the bed.
"Where are you going Jack?", Sally asked. He put on his robe and opened the bedroom door.
"Just going to peek in at the boys, that's all."
Jack crept across the hallway. He was slightly surprised to find the door to his sons' bedroom closed. It was all the same to Jack Jr., but Nicholas generally preferred it open while they slept. Jack twisted the lavender glass knob and opened the door. He scanned the dark room, and felt a jolt run through his bones. How on earth would he break this to Sally?

-----------

"You are a moron. A moron. You're a total moronic pudding head."
"Yeah, well. If I am a moron, who are you to be following me?"

The princes of Halloweentown walked single file through a subterranean tunnel, far beneath their home. Jack jr. lead, while his twin followed behind providing commentary.
"I never told you to come with me Nicky. Why don't you just go back to bed already?"
"Because! If something happens to you I want to see it."
Jack Jr. snorted. They continued on. Cool rivulets of water trickled down the stone walls. Nicholas had never been this far into the passages.
"I don't know why I said 'if.' Something definitely will happen to you, and to me too! Just wait until mama and dad find out we're gone!"
"Nicky, dad is sound asleep, believe me. Don't worry about mama, I can handle her."
The expedition leader paused, then tapped the ceiling.
"Here we go!", he said happily. The boy leapt upward, slipping through a gap in the rock ceiling. Nicholas followed with considerably more trepidation. They surfaced under a starlit sky. Nicholas blinked.
"It's the pumpkin patch! We're in the pumpkin patch! How'd you know this was where it would end up Jacky?"
"Dad mentioned it once. I kept meaning to try it out, just never got to it before tonight."
Nicholas nodded, impressed in spite of himself. The moon hung full and bright above them. Pale silver light illuminated the dew covered pumpkins.
After a few more moments of introspection, Jack jr. stood and dusted the earth from his slacks.
"Where are we going?", Nicholas asked.
"I'm gonna hang out with Lock for awhile I think. Not too long, I want to be back home before morning afterall."
Nicholas stopped in his tracks.
"Lock?! Noooooooo…I don't want to play with Lock!"
Jack Jr. turned back to his brother impatiently.
"I told you not to come didn't I? So go home!"
Nicholas stood uncertainly at the edge of the pumpkin patch, watching his brother stride away. He hesitated, but then trotted to catch up. Jack jr. was a pain, but he was still Nicholas' brother. If he was truly in danger, Nicholas didn't want him facing it alone.

Barrel slept soundly, passed out on his stomach. A purple sucker was cemented by wet sugar into his hair. Lock was also asleep, although he never slept deeply. It was Shock who was still fully awake, sitting up reading, who received the trio's guests. She jumped at the sound of a solid rap on the wooden trap door.
"Who is it?", the witch girl called in her most threatening voice.
"It's Jack and Nicky.", came the answer. Shock made a face. It was close to two am, what were the twins doing out? She flipped open the door and two small skeleton boys entered, one looking much more uneasy than the other.
"Hi!", Lock called, climbing off of his ramshackle cot. "Wow! How'd you get out at this hour?"
Jack Jr. grinned and waved his hand, signifying that it was nothing.
"Mama and Dad are asleep. We'll be back before they get up."
Lock laughed and gave his friend a playful punch on the shoulder. This boy had such potential. Nicholas looked nervously out the window of the treehouse, expecting to see his father striding over the hills any minute. Shock gave voice to the prince's concern.
"You two better hope you don't get caught. Your parents will kill you twice over!" She stood with her arms folded over her chest, leaning against the wall. Barrel slept on.