Author's Note: Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has enjoyed this lovely holiday season so far. As my gift to all of you, I'm updating this story. For the record, I don't really own much in any of my stories. I'm borrowing characters and settings for my own use. You can thank Mr. Burton, Mr. Elfman, Disney, and Touchstone Pictures for making the original nightmare come true and Capcom for bringing it back, albeit in a different way. But the idea is mine, and that's not too shabby. By the way, this story does take place after the movie. In fact, it's an indirect sequel to my first story, The Nightmare Before Valentine's Day. Hopefully, it will be understandable to both fans of that story and those who have yet to read it. Well, that's it for me. Here's the second chapter.

The trees began to grow few and far between as the pair walked home with their new bundle. Soon enough, they were out of the woods altogether and stepping on cobblestones. Yes, they were definitely back in Halloween Town. Jack could tell by the screaming. Now, this was not just any screaming. It was the Mayor; he was running towards Jack with the Behemoth following him. The Mayor fell over a few times before finally reaching Jack. He seemed to have something important to say, as usual.

"Jack! Where have you been! I've been looking over these papers for decorations and I need your help," said the Mayor as he dropped rolls and rolls of black paper on the ground.

"What kind of help do you need, Mayor?" Jack asked as he looked over the bundle in his arms.

"Tell me, which color should we use to decorate the Town Hall?"

"Mayor, they're all black paper."

"No they're not."

"Are you sure about that?"

"This one here is ebony. The one next to it is jet black. The third is midnight sky and the fourth is oblivion black. Don't even get me started on cauldron black."

"All of them are fine, Mayor, really."

"Please, Jack. Halloween's barely six months away."

"Oh, alright. I'd go with the midnight sky."

"My thoughts exactly! Come along, Behemoth, we have to measure that one up with the orange rolls. Come by to see me later about those, Jack."

The Behemoth picked up the fallen rolls of paper and walked after the Mayor once more. Jack shook his head at the unlikely pair. Zero hovered ahead of Jack towards their home and the skeleton quickly followed. They could not risk seeing the Mayor again, and the baby could waken at any moment. Jack was sure that news of a live mortal in Halloween Town would only upset the usually stressed Mayor more than usual. The Pumpkin King had to keep this quiet for now, and there was only one person he could trust.

Zero had already beaten him to the door. He had been barking for it to open, which it did. Jack had just made it up the stairs when he saw the door open and greeted with a kiss on the cheek. Sally would have hugged him as well, has she not seen he was carrying something. That didn't matter though, not yet anyway.

"I was wondering when you'd come back," Sally said. "Did you two have fun?"

"You could say that," Jack said as he began to climb the spiral staircase. "Sally, could you come upstairs with me. I have a surprise for you."

"Oh, really?" Sally asked.

'Oh, no' was what she really meant. See, Jack had this habit of making surprises into disasters. It wasn't his fault, things just happened that way. Sally bit her lower lip slightly before climbing up after Jack. If things were going to get complicated, she could at least know about them this time. Still, the last time things went crazy, it ended well for them. Sally smiled at the ring on her third finger on her left hand, just one of the results from Jack's misadventure with the infamous Day of Love. She decided to stop thinking so negatively then. Whatever Jack had could not possibly be so bad. Even if it was, he meant well. If his heart was in the right place, that was all that mattered, wasn't it?

"I'm here," Sally said as she got to the top of the staircase and saw Jack put an index finger to his mouth. "What's the matter?" she asked in a whisper.

"Come over here," Jack whispered back as he gestured to the bundle on the bed. "I found this in the woods."

"What is it?" Sally asked as she walked to Jack's side.

Jack answered by lifted a flap of the blanket to reveal a tiny mortal child. It had to be the most fragile thing Sally had ever seen. Its head looked very soft, with only a thin layer of black hair covering it. Its eyes were closed as it slept, taking small breaths and moving its arms every few moments or so. Each of its fingers were curled into a tiny fist, one that could easily fit in Sally's palm. She sat next to the child and traced the outline of its fist with her fingers.

"Jack, it's so small. This is a human?"

"A baby. You know, a little one."

"It came from the woods?"

"Someone left it there. I don't know why, usually mortals are so worried about their babies."

"Maybe they didn't want it."

"What a shame. Poor thing could have died if I didn't find it. Then again, if it died, we could make it a resident."

"Jack! We can't let it die."

"Come now, Sally. You know I wouldn't hurt a baby. Scare it, yes, but hurt? Never."

"But it can't stay here. Not if it's alive."

"Not permanently. We'll have to find a good mortal home for it."

"What will we do until then?"

"Keep it here."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Look at that little face. It needs us. Besides, how bad can we be?"

"Well, it does need a good home. Jack, what is it anyway? It's not fair to call the baby 'it' over and over again."

"I haven't checked," Jack said. "Ok, here goes."

Jack lifted more of the blanket to take a quick peek. He quickly put it back and looked right back to Sally with a proud look on his face.

"It's a boy."

"You seem happy about that."

"Definitely. We can name him Jack."

"Jack," Sally said in a giggle.

"Yes, Jack. Until we find a home for him, his name is Jack."

"I have to admit that's better than It."

"Jack's a perfect name. It's my name."

"You've got me there. It's going to get confusing having two Jacks though."

"We can call him Little Jack, or Jack Junior."

"That'll work. Um, Jack? Is he supposed to be wet?"

"No. Why do you- AH!" Jack exclaimed. "Sally, I think he needs to be changed."

"Changed?" Sally asked before realizing what Jack meant. "Oh. Changed."

"You wouldn't happen to have any spare cloth lying around would you?"

"I'll take a look. Just keep an eye on him. Oh, and hand me those sheets. I can get those washed and dried in no time."

"Right. Sorry about this. I really have no idea how to raise children at all. I just scare them and go on my way," Jack said as he untucked the wet sheet and unwrapped the baby.

"If we're going to be parents Jack, I guess we have to learn," Sally said as she took the sheet and blanket.

"Parents. That word sounds so odd to me for some reason, but nice too."

"Remember, Jack. We're only keeping Little Jack until we find him mortal parents."

"Don't worry, Sally. Everything will be fine. Besides, I have a contact in the Real World who can help us. If things get out of hand, the Council can help too."

"That's good to hear," Sally said as she found a spare piece of cloth and threw it to Jack. "Time to change him, Daddy," she finished with a slight giggle before going down the staircase.

"Daddy," Jack repeated before he began to change the infant.

Awwwww, Takoda has surrogate parents. Isn't that sweet? Will they get too attached to him though? Or will they find some mortals to take him and perhaps complicate things even further? And who is Jack's contact? Find out next time. (Re-edit comment: Come on, who else would it be?)