Halloween Part One
"Happy Halloween!" Sofia yelled, running into her grandparents kitchen, dressed as a witch and holding out a broomstick.
"Hey!" AJ exclaimed, "Look at you."
"I'm a witch." Sofia spun around to show her entire outfit to them.
"I barely recognised you." Punk nodded to her.
"I don't understand." Sofia looked at them both.
"What?" AJ laughed a little.
"What are you supposed to be?" She shook her head.
"Oh, we're Mulder and Scully, from the x-files." AJ explained as Sofia looked at them with confusion.
"She's six." Punk mumbled to AJ.
"Uh… we are special agents." AJ told her as Sofia just nodded, still not understanding.
"Did you go trick-or-treating?" Punk asked Sofia who knelt up on her chair.
"Yes, and I got lots of candy. More than James." Sofia smiled.
"Hey." Thea smiled as she and Dominic came into the kitchen, "The best dressed has arrived." She nodded as AJ scoffed.
"Please, a devil? How original of you." AJ nodded sarcastically.
"I've never been a devil before." Thea said, "What the hell are you guys supposed to be? People who live in the burbs?" She shook her head.
"No." AJ scoffed, "Phil." She whined, turning to Punk, unhappy that no one even recognised their costumes.
"What?" Punk laughed.
"They're Mulder and Scully." Dominic figured as AJ smiled.
"Thank you." AJ smiled, "Dominic you're my favourite." She nodded as Dominic smiled.
"Oh, off that lame show you watch?" Thea asked AJ, "I see it now." She realised, "Yeah, my costume is still better." She nodded.
"Where is James?" Punk asked.
"He went straight into the living room, probably to look at all the decorations. I think you guys go overboard every year. I'm ok with it." Thea nodded as AJ smiled.
"Hey, witch." Punk nodded over to Sofia who looked up, "You want some witches brew over there?" He asked her.
"What's that?" Sofia asked, jumping off the chair as Punk lifted her up, taking her over to the punch that was made.
The house was in full décor, kids came to the door for candy every five minutes, there was music on and people coming and going from the kitchen to the living room. They went all out, and it was always fun.
"Are my skin and blisters not here yet?" Thea asked AJ.
"No, not yet. Jude will be here soon and Cassie will be an hour late, probably." AJ estimated, "You hungry? There's tons of food. Some in the living room, some here." She said.
"Don't mind if I do." Thea smiled, walking over to take a look.
Meanwhile Jude and Sean arrived with Mirren and Leela. They'd taken the girls to the houses in the neighbourhood before coming to the party. Leela was Minnie Mouse and Mirren was a vampire.
"I think the décor gets better every year." Sean nodded to himself as Jude smiled. She was glad to be home with her family for this occasion. It was always one of her favourite holidays.
"Yeah, it's real good." Jude nodded, walking to the kitchen, "Hey." She smiled, holding Leela in her arms whilst Mirren ran ahead.
"Hi, sweetie." AJ smiled, "Oh, look at you." She tickled under Leela's chin, "You're so pretty."
"She wanted to be Minnie." Jude nodded, "Didn't you?" She turned to Leela who shied into her neck.
"Are you pretending you're shy?" AJ asked her as Leela smiled.
"What are you?" Thea laughed, looking at Jude.
"Duh, I'm Cassie." Jude said, dressed up as a police officer. Punk choked a little on his drink, placing his hand on his chest as Jude laughed a little.
"Ok, Jude wins the best costume." Thea admitted as Jude smiled happily.
"Is Uncle Dean here?" Jude asked.
"Yeah, they're all in the living room." Punk said as Jude nodded, "With Dan." He added as Jude and Thea looked at him.
"Is he dressed up?" Thea asked, amused.
"He attempted the Joker." Punk nodded.
"Oh, that's sweet." Jude laughed a little, "I'm glad he's here." She nodded positively to her father who smiled.
Meanwhile outside, Cassie had drew up to the house, getting dropped off by Theo.
"You good?" Theo asked, sitting behind the wheel as Cassie turned to him. The look on her face told him no.
"I can't do this tonight." Cassie shook her head.
"You can't go on knowing what you know and not say a thing, Cass." Theo said as Cassie sighed to herself stressfully.
"It's just more unnecessary shit to deal with." Cassie said with frustration, "If not telling them means they won't be upset, can't I just do that?"
"And how would you feel if it was the other way around? And they knew something like that and never told you? How would you feel?" Theo asked.
"I would understand that they were trying to protect me." Cassie sighed.
"What you've been told isn't just something you gotta tell your family, you also gotta take it seriously as a cop. When you talk about people slipping under our radar, this is the chance we have to stop that." Theo said as Cassie ran her hands over her face.
"I just can't deal with this tonight." Cassie shook her head, "I don't want ruin a good night for everyone."
"You're gonna keep putting it off." Theo said, "It's not something you can keep to yourself, baby. You know that." He shook his head, brushing his hand down the back of her hair as she leaned her cheek into his hand.
"I don't even wanna go inside." Cassie sighed quietly.
"Can we go?" Chase asked impatiently from the back as Cassie looked at Theo.
"Yeah, of course." Cassie put on a brave voice for her son.
"Call me. I'll have my phone." Theo said as she nodded, leaning over and giving him a kiss.
"Ok, baby. Let's go." Cassie nodded, getting out of the car.
"Hey, you look after mommy tonight, ok?" Theo turned into the back where Chase, dressed as a mummy, nodded, "You keep her safe from all the ghosts, yeah?"
"I will." Chase promised as Theo smiled.
"Ok, buddy. Have fun." Theo smiled, watching as Cassie helped him out of the car.
Cassie headed into her parents house with Chase, closing the door behind her. It was hard not to smile at the decorations, even with everything that was going through her head.
She walked through to the kitchen with Chase, "Hey." Cassie smiled, putting on a face better than anyone.
"Oh, hey." AJ smiled, "I love the costume."
"Thanks." Cassie smiled, giving her mother a hug.
"What are you?" Sofia questioned, sitting over at the table with Mirren.
"I'm a hippy." Cassie said.
"You really didn't need a costume for that." Thea laughed a little as Cassie rolled her eyes.
"I love everyone's costume." Cassie smiled, looking around, noticing Jude, "Oh, hey you're a cop." She laughed a little.
"Actually I'm you." Jude nodded, showing her the makeshift name tag which had Brooks on it.
"How is that me?" Cassie raised a brow.
"Wait." Jude told her, walking over to the fridge, taking out a beer and busting the top open, "Now I'm you." She nodded as Cassie folded her arms.
"Very funny." Cassie nodded as Jude smiled, wrapping an arm around her and kissing her cheek as Cassie smiled.
"Oh, wait. Now that we're all here actually." Thea noticed, dusting her hands off from some sandwich slices she had been eating, "We have something to share." She smiled to Dominic who nodded, "We're having another baby." She smiled.
"You are not." Jude gasped, legitimately surprised and shocked.
"I knew it." AJ smiled excitedly, "I told you." She shoved Punk.
"Here. Look." Thea said, taking the sonogram picture out of her purse and showing it around as they all expressed their congratulations.
"Grandmother of seven." Renee gasped, sitting with AJ in the kitchen later on.
"I know." AJ shook her head. Everyone was floating around from sitting in the living room, to out in the yard or in the living room.
"I mean, I'm feeling old and I'm just about to have my first." Renee laughed a little.
"It doesn't really make me feel old." AJ admitted, "I don't know. I guess cause we had the girls pretty young." She said as Renee nodded, "How has Sarah been?"
"Oh, she's doing good. Barely a pregnant symptom. She's lucky." Renee nodded.
"I guess I should probably ask how Dean is?" AJ laughed a little as Renee smiled.
"He's actually been a lot more calm than I would have thought. I think he's excited too." Renee nodded.
"Of course he'll be excited." AJ smiled, "How come Chrissy couldn't make it tonight?"
"She just text me last minute and said that she had to work late." Renee shrugged, "You know how she is. She barely picks up her phone." She shook her head.
"How's her head doing?" AJ asked.
"Her head?" Renee questioned as AJ paused, internally screaming as she remembered Thea telling her that Chrissy hadn't informed Renee.
"Oh, just… last week she had a fall and Thea saw her in the hospital. She had some stitches." AJ nodded.
"Seriously?" Renee asked, "She's never even said. And I haven't seen her either." Renee said, "She can be clumsy."
"Yeah she's like Jude. Trips up over her own feet." AJ laughed a little as Renee smiled.
"Why wouldn't she tell me?" Renee questioned, thinking about it in more depth.
"Probably not to worry you. Thea spoke to her and she was fine." AJ nodded, knowing that wasn't entirely true as Thea had spoken to her about her suspicions.
"I'll need to call her in the morning." Renee said, "It's like she wants to stray away. Sometimes when we show up at her house, just to visit, she'll turn us away." She shook her head as AJ frowned.
"Oh, that's not like her." AJ said as Renee nodded, "She's probably just super busy with work. Trust me, I know how Thea and Cassie can get." She said as Renee nodded.
Meanwhile Thea was sitting in the living room with Jude, chatting up a storm amongst others in the room.
"At least they're getting along." Jude smiled, looking over at Sofia and Mirren who were playing with each other and had been showing each other the candy they had got whilst trick-or-treating.
"Yeah, well… you and me didn't always get along, did we?" Thea smiled to her, "I think they'll be best friends." She nodded, looking over at Sofia and Mirren.
"I hope so. Long distance best friends." Jude nodded, "You really ready for another baby?" She asked her sister.
"Oh, absolutely not." Thea laughed, "I… I kinda thought we were done. We were happy with two." She nodded, "But… this doesn't feel wrong. I think it's good that we can close off this year of hell with something nice for once." She said.
"Yeah, it's great news." Jude nodded to her, "I can't wait to meet her or him." She smiled.
"Me too." Thea smiled, looking over to Cassie who was sat on the far away couch on her phone, "What's up with her?"
"Cassie?" Jude asked as Thea nodded, "I don't know. She's been quiet." She said as Thea nodded, "And she was acting weird with me that night we all went out for dinner." She shook her head.
"She told me a couple weeks ago that she was stressed about Mark being out of prison. Maybe it's to do with that." Thea estimated.
"It could be anything or it could be nothing. She's impossible to read." Jude shook her head, looking over at Cassie who then got up and left the living room, "I'm gonna check on her." Jude said, following after Cassie…