"Audrey, I can't believe you're making me wear this!" Melendez shouted from their bedroom.
"Oh come on! We're all going to look great! Aren't we, my little baby Yoda?" Lim cooed at Mei-Li, who produced a fit of giggles upon hearing her mother's voice.
Melendez came into Mei-Li's nursery, fully clad in his Mandalorian costume, including the helmet, "What I won't do for love," he said to Lim.
Lim smiled and lifted Mei-Li into her arms, "You might feel ridiculous, but once our friends and families see our pictures, you won't regret it."
"So help me if our colleagues and residents see these pictures…" Melendez threatened jokingly, but Lim could tell he was enjoying dressing up in costume and he was enjoying her Cara Dune outfit, "I'm going to vow next week to do stuff like this for you for the rest of my life, aren't I?"
Lim looked down at her engagement ring and said, "Yep, next week, we'll be putting a mini handcuff on each other's left ring fingers and then we'll be stuck with each other. Forever," she grinned and looked down at Mei-Li, "Isn't that right sweetheart?" Lim repeatedly kissed her cheek, "Now Laura will be here with Everly soon and then we can all go trick-or-treating."
"I hope they're wearing as nerdy of a costume as we are," Melendez muttered under his breath.
"I heard that!" Lim called from the hallway.
Laura arrived fully decked out in a Princess Leia outfit with Everly wearing a Chewbacca costume, "Man, I haven't dressed up for Halloween since we went to frat parties in college. Now look at us. We're moms and one of us will be a married woman in another week."
"And Neil will get to spend the rest of his life wearing nerdy costumes for me," said Lim.
Mei-Li was giggling and reaching out for Laura, so Laura took her into her arms and cooed, "Aren't you just the cutest little Yoda!"
"I say we do a Harry Potter theme next Halloween," said Lim excitedly.
"Deal," Laura agreed.
Melendez came down the stairs, only he had taken his helmet off at this point, "What are you ladies planning on doing now?"
"We were just planning next year's Halloween costumes. Right Everly?" asked Laura as she watched her daughter toddle around the Lim-Melendez house.
"Hawwy," she repeated happily.
"That's right," Lim chuckled and scooped Everly into her arms, "So are you ready to go trick-or-treating tonight?"
"Twick ow tweat," Everly said excitedly.
"That's right," said Laura.
Melendez smiled and took Mei-Li from Laura, "Can you say trick-or-treat, mija?" he asked her. All Mei-Li did was babble a little and blow a few raspberries, but she looked extremely proud of herself, "See? She can say it in infant."
The group of five went out and walked through the neighborhood, though they didn't go very far since they had two young children with them, "Laura, remember in high school when we tried to fill pillowcase after pillowcase with candy? Even Josh came with us."
"Oh goodness, yes. We had candy to last us through St. Patrick's Day," Laura chuckled at the memory, "How about you, Neil? Favorite Halloween memory?"
"Mm, it's not a Halloween memory, but a Día de los Muertos one," answered Melendez, "My primos and youngest tía and I played a massive game of hide and seek in the graveyard where my bisabuelo is buried. Nobody found me and Elena for three hours. We thought our familia was going to leave us behind."
The group of five went from door to door, filling Mei-Li's and Everly's pumpkin buckets. After they finished, Laura and Everly left for home while Melendez and Lim went inside. Melendez helped himself to a few of the Snickers bars while Lim tried to soothe a fussy baby, "It's okay, sweetheart," she turned to Melendez and said, "Now comes the real challenge of the night: nursing a baby while wearing a Halloween costume," she chuckled as she stripped off some of the armor and settled Mei-Li into her arms to feed her.
Melendez smiled at his two girls, sat down next to Lim, and squeezed Mei-Li's foot affectionately, "So how was your first Halloween, mija?"
"I think she enjoyed it. But next year will be even better, won't it sweetheart?" Lim gazed down at her daughter.
"She's growing up so fast," Melendez commented.
"Don't remind me," Lim scolded lightly, "Seems like just yesterday I gave birth to her and she'll be eight months old in a few weeks." Soon, Mei-Li finished nursing and Lim burped her before she placed Mei-Li on her activity mat.
Melendez took Lim's hand and asked, "Can you believe at this time next week, we'll officially be husband and wife?"
Lim sighed, but shook her head, "Honestly, I can't believe it. All of the planning and the stress and the shopping and deciding on things…it all culminates next week."
Melendez would be lying if he didn't admit he was nervous. He was sincerely hoping he wouldn't mess up his vows or make an ass of himself during their first dance at the reception. But he was also looking forward to the fact that he would finally get to call Audrey Lim his wife. He stroked her cheek and said, "I can't wait to see you walk down that aisle next Saturday. You're going to look absolutely stunning in your dress."
Lim had already shown Melendez her red qipao wedding dress. She figured they had already been through so much together and an old superstition wasn't going to curse them any further. Lim snuggled closer to Melendez and said, "But to be honest with you, we've been living together for a while and have been raising a baby together. I don't think much will change other than it'll be official."
Melendez laughed and kissed the top of her head, "You're probably right. But I still can't wait to introduce you as Dr. Audrey Lim-Melendez."
Lim had decided to hyphenate her last name so people at St. Bonaventure wouldn't be confused with two doctors with the last name of Melendez and she also admitted that she wanted to be able to preserve her Asian heritage while showing her commitment to Neil. He had wholeheartedly agreed to her reasoning. The couple sat together in comfortable silence before they heard some noise coming from Mei-Li. She had managed to roll over onto her tummy and was slowly but surely crawling across the open space that they had cleared for her since they knew it wouldn't be long before she started, "Neil, look!" said Lim excitedly.
Melendez turned his head towards Mei-Li and pulled out his phone when he saw her crawling, "Is this her first time?" asked Melendez. Lim nodded excitedly, though she had been rendered speechless at the moment, "You go mija."
Mei-Li looked over at Melendez upon hearing his voice, giggled a little, but continued crawling towards the other side of the room. Lim wiped away the tears falling down her cheeks and said, "God, I promised when Mei-Li was born that I wasn't going to be one of those moms who cried every time her child hit a milestone."
"Audrey, I have the pictures of you where you produced more water than Niagara Falls the first time Mei-Li smiled at you. It's okay," Melendez teased jokingly.
Once Mei-Li could go no further, Lim scooped Mei-Li into her arms and said, "Well baby girl, it's time to get you ready for bed."
Melendez kissed Lim and then Mei-Li, "I'm going to go take a shower, but I'll read her a bedtime story once I'm done."
"Okay," Lim nodded. She watched Melendez go up the stairs and then back down to Mei-Li. Her life hadn't turned out exactly how she had planned, but she wouldn't trade her family for the world.
