mild language, nothing bad...promise!

Jacob barely made it through the front door when he was quite literally attacked by his son, Mark age six, and daughter, Sammy age 4. Both Carter children were wearing monster masks and growling like a couple of wild animals. Not wanting to disappoint his children, like he had already done on so many other Holidays by being away on a mission, Jacob quickly decided to play a long.

"Holy crap!" he exclaimed. "You little monsters about scared me to death!"

Then he suddenly clutched his chest with his hand and collapsed onto the floor. Shaking his legs about, he gasped for air then suddenly closed his eyes and went limp. His son reacted as expected and laughed. And Sammy…

"MOMMY!"

Her panicked voice shrieked so loud that Jacob could swear the entire neighborhood heard her.

"You're a cry baby!" Mark laughed at his sister, pulling his mask off.

"Mark, enough!" Jacob snapped, quickly sitting up and grabbing hold of Sammy and taking her mask off. "Sammy! I'm ok baby! See! Sammy, see, Daddy was just playing around. I'm fine."

"What is going on?" Allison asked as she came rushing from the kitchen, her face full of concern for her baby.

"Everything's under control," Jacob quickly said, climbing to his feet as he comforted Sammy's tears. "I was just pretending that they scared me to death. Sammy got a little scared. But Daddy was just playing…understand?"

Sammy sniffled then nodded her head.

"Sam's a scaredie cat and started crying like a baby!" Mark snickered.

"I'm not a baby!" Sammy shouted at him. "I'm a big girl!"

"Baby!"

"Kids, that's enough!" Jacob ordered firmly but as usual they never listened.

"I'm a big girl!"

"Scaredie cat and a baby!"

"You're a shit head!" Sammy shouted sticking her tongue out at her brother.

"Samantha Anne Carter, where did you get a mouth like that?" Allison asked harshly then immediately looked to Jacob. "Never mind. Jacob you need to watch your mouth around the children or next time I'll wash your mouth out with a bar of soap."

"Would that be in the shower or the bath?" he asked with a devilish grin on his face.

"Kids…go get into your costumes!" Allison ordered.

"Yippee!" they cheered.

Jacob set Sammy down and happily watched his children race upstairs.

"They've been driving me nuts all day waiting for you to come home. I was tempted to give them candy just to shut them up but thought better of it. They were already bouncing off the walls enough as it was!"

"You haven't answered my question," he said playfully, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

"And I'm not going to," she replied turning out of his arms.

"You're no fun!" he shouted after her as she walked down the hallway.

"Go help your daughter with her costume!" she laughed at him.

"Yes, Ma'am!" he saluted making her laugh even harder.

As he approached the children's room he could hear Mark teasing Sammy again. Their bickering had increased in frequency lately and it dawned on Jacob that they really need a bigger house. The kids should each have their own room, which would cut down on the bickering. Not to mention, Mommy and Daddy could use a bigger master bedroom…with a bigger bed!

Jacob shook his head at the typical sight as he walked into the doorway. Mark and Sammy were having a tug of war. Usually it was over a toy, this time it was some piece of clothing.

"Give it to me!" Sammy growled then kicked Mark hard in his shin.

"MOMMY!" he wailed clutching his leg and falling to the ground like it was the end of the world.

"You're the cry baby now!" Sammy snickered triumphantly.

"I GOT IT ALLISON!" Jacob shouted down the hallway before she came flying up the stairs. "Samantha, apologize to your brother, right now!"

"But…Daddy…"

"No, buts young lady! I will not tolerate physical violence in my house!" Jacob said sternly. "Now, apologize this instant!"

"I'm sorry, Mark," she said then flung herself onto her bed weeping into her pillow.

Jacob let out a gusty sigh before picking Mark up. When he first became a father he had no idea what he was getting into. And he still didn't! He took each crisis one at a time. It was the only way he could survive fatherhood!

"What have I told you about teasing your sister?" Jacob asked, sitting on Sammy's bed and rubbing Mark's shin.

"You said to not tease my sister," Mark sniffled.

"And what should you do now?"

Mark looked up at his father anxiously. Jacob nodded towards Sammy.

"I'm sorry Sam, I didn't mean to tease you," Mark said, grasping his sister's hand.

One thing Jacob was so surprised about his children was that they were both very intelligent. He was also very proud that Mark was already reading at a third grader's level and he was only in the first grade. Sammy was reading at the same level as Mark and she hadn't even started kindergarten yet! Sometimes their intelligence made Jacob's job as their father easier. But most of the time it made it rather difficult. At least this was one of the easy times!

Sammy embraced her brother and he did the same.

"Good, now Mark get into your cowboy costume," he ordered, putting the boy on the floor. "Sammy, where's your princess dress?"

"I don't want to be a princess!" she protested, folding her arms across her chest. A trait she picked up for her Daddy! She was STUBBORN!

"Sammy, your mother worked very hard to make that dress for you and you're going to wear it," he responded calmly but firmly.

Then Sammy pulled the big sad blue eyes trick on him. He swore he would never let it get to him but it always did. Jacob just couldn't resist those big baby blues, glistening with tears ready to fall when Sammy looked up at him. Those eyes were always so hard to resist, even when Mark did that trick. Maybe it's because Jacob's children have their mother's eyes. He could never resist Allison's eyes either.

"Ok," he smiled, caressing her hair long blonde hair. "So, if you don't want to be a princess, what do you want to be?"

"I want to be a pilot…just like you!" she smiled wide.

"Oh," he said in complete surprise.

Jacob wasn't sure if he should be proud or scared. He knew exactly how Allison would react if Sammy ever entered the Air Force. She would FREAK! Yet, he was over come by this pride that his little girl wanted to be just like her Daddy!

'She's only four…what harm could it be?' he thought to himself while Sammy was anxiously looking up at him.

"Ok…let's see what we can do," he smiled which made her face shine with sheer happiness.

After twenty minutes, Jacob found what he needed from Mark's clothing. A pair of tan pants, a white dress shirt, brown leather belt, and a brown bomber jacket. From Allison's dresser, Jacob found a white scarf and gently tied it around Sammy's neck. All that was missing was the brown leather pilot's cap…of which he had in a trunk in his closet.

"How's my little princess doing?" Allison called from downstairs.

"Fine!" he shouted back nervously.

"What's wrong, Daddy?"

"Nothing baby, let's go eat supper then we can go Trick or Treating," he replied excitedly.

Of course, Sammy had to galloping down stairs straight to her Mommy. The little girl was so proud of her costume and kept going on about how her Daddy put it together. And as Jacob approached the dining room he could hear the dismay in Allison's voice. It never failed! He couldn't keep all of his family happy at the same time. It seems like every time he tried, someone always got their feelings hurt.

"I'm Amelia Earhart!" Sammy smiled brightly.

"That's nice sweetie. Eat your dinner," Allison said as he came into the room.

Jacob immediately got that look from his wife! The one telling him he was in TROUBLE!

"What happened to her princess outfit?"

"She didn't want to be a princess," he answered taking his seat at the head of the table.

"I'm a pilot…just like Daddy!"

Jacob shrank in his seat a little.

"Yes, well pilots and cowboys do not eat supper with their hats on at my dinner table," Allison said and the kids immediately took their hats off.

Allison was very good at containing her anger in front of the kids. They never noticed a thing. However, Jacob's been married to Allison for eight years. He learned to pick up on the signs! And she was PISSED!

Thankfully the kids were all excited and doing most of the talking. Jacob really wasn't in the mood to talk. He spent the entire dinner pushing his food around trying to figure out a way to get in the good graces of his wife again.

"Go wash your hands!" Allison smiled to her children who tore out of their chairs. "And no arguing!"

"Yes, Mommy!" they shouted as they run upstairs.

"You're not hungry?" she asked, picking up his plate.

"I had a late lunch," he answered, getting to his feet and helping to clear the table.

"Jacob, you can't lie to me," she said as they entered the kitchen.

Jacob sighed, putting the dishes on the counter, "Ok…I messed up…I'm sorry!"

Allison started laughing. Great! He could add humiliation to his list! Only he was very confused when Allison wrapped her arms around him, kissing him on the cheek.

"You are a good father Jacob Carter. Did you see the smile on your daughter's face?"

"I thought you were mad at me," Jacob countered.

"I was…for about two seconds. I just wanted to see you squirm. Sam does look so adorable."

"Takes after her mother," he whispered, then pressed his lips against hers.

God, Jacob loved her. There were some days he couldn't believe Allison was his wife and that they had created two beautiful children together. Then there were other days he clung to their images in his mind because they were the only things keeping him alive during a mission.

"You better get changed," she said when he finally pulled his lips away. "Your children have been looking forward to this night all week."

"MARK!" Sammy yelled upstairs.

"I think I better just grab my jacket before they kill each other!" he laughed.

For about three hours, Jacob walked from house to house grateful that his children were disciplined enough to not run wild like the majority of the other kids. Mark, knowing he was the older one and the responsible one, held onto his sister's hand as they walked. Almost at every house the lady or gentleman handing out candy would compliment Jacob on how beautiful his children were. And each time he proudly gave the credit to their mother.

And after just about every house, Mark or Sammy would ask him if they could have a piece of candy. Again, each time he made reference to their mother…something along the lines of her killing him if their teeth fell out of their mouths before midnight! Of course, he caved from time to time. It was Halloween after all. It only came once a year. Hell, he even joined in the fun and ate a few candies.

By the time they headed home, Sammy was sleeping in Jacob's arms with her head on his shoulder. Mark volunteered to carry her bag of candy thinking he was being sneaky by stealing his sister's candy and adding it to his own. Jacob let his son get away with it knowing that Allison was going to put all the candy together and out of the children's reach.

By the time it was nine o'clock, the kids were tucked into their beds. Allison was snuggled against Jacob as they started watching a horror movie together. It had been a while since they sat down and watched a movie together. And it was something they obviously just weren't into doing at the moment as they were making out on the couch like a couple of teenagers.

Several hours later, Jacob lay awake staring out the open window at the stars. His wife's warm body was completely relaxed in one arm and the hand on his other arms was affectionately caressing her long blonde hair. He sighed, kissing her bare shoulder before gently sliding out from beneath the covers.

Normally he was the one who fell asleep first after they made love. Only tonight he couldn't sleep. His daughter's words kept repeating over and over in his mind. He knew when Sammy said something she meant it!

After putting on his sweatpants, Jacob headed downstairs. In their passion earlier, he and Allison left the lights and the television on. Only once he was satisfied that his family was secured did Jacob head back upstairs.

Of course he had to check on the children before returning to bed. It was part of his nightly ritual. Plus, he found it rather relaxing to see his babies sleeping. They were easier to talk to when they were sleeping too!

"Mark, you little devil," Jacob chuckled seeing a couple of candy wrappers on the floor. "I guess it can't hurt." Jacob kissed his son on his forehead as he adjusted the blankets. "I love you son. I'll have to teach you about concealing the evidence!"

"Daddy!" Sammy whispered from across the room.

"What are you doing awake?" he asked moving to sit on her bed.

"I can't sleep. What about you?"

"I can't sleep either," he smiled. "But I want you to close your eyes and try to go back to sleep. Can you do that for Daddy?"

"Yes, I can."

"That's my good girl. Did you have fun tonight?"

"Yes, will you be able to take us Trick or Treating next year?"

"I sincerely hope so. Now go to sleep."

"Daddy?"

"What is it sweetie?" he asked fixing up her covers.

"Do you fly to the stars?"

"No, the astronauts in NASA do that. I'm just a pilot in the Air Force."

"If you wanted to…could you…fly to the stars?"

"I suppose, if I wanted to," he answered then hesitantly asked, "Sam, do you want to fly to the stars?"

In the dim illumination from the nightlight Jacob saw his daughter had that look in her eyes. That look always frightened him. His girl was going to be someone special. He just prayed he was good enough of a father to help her to become that someone. But Jacob to comfort that if he screwed up Allison would always be there to make things right.

"Can I…if I want to?"

"Samantha, you can do anything your heart desires. If you want to be an astronaut, I believe you can do it. But know this…I will be proud of whatever you chose to do."

"Because you love me?"

"Exactly…because I love you," he smiled, kissing her on her forehead. "Now go to sleep baby."

"I love you too, Daddy."

Jacob got up and left the children's room. Heading back into the master bedroom he immediately noticed the bed was empty. He smiled to himself. Allison always liked to try and scare him every so often and especially on Halloween night. After eight years marriage she's never been successful.

Tonight was no different. Allison jumped from her hiding place and Jacob allowed her to tackle him onto the bed, laughing the whole time.

"Not scary enough?" she asked lying on top of him.

"Allison, the only thing that scares me is not having you in my life," he smiled, stroking her long hair. "I love you too much!"

"The feeling's mutual!" she sighed snuggling on his chest. "Happy Halloween, Jacob."

"Happy Halloween, Allison."