A/N: Requested by the effervescent lunabelle on tumblr as part of Fictober.
Prompt: Pregnant trick-or-treating is a fucking nightmare.
Please enjoy!
Halloween night is a sacred tradition in the Ludgate-Dwyer household. So important that April jumps on the chance to go trick-or-treating with Andy and Jack on that night, falling perfectly on a Friday. It's the perfect combination for what she thinks is the ultimate birthday party.
She can't actually jump though, what with the whole being pregnant again thing.
The whole allure of being gross and feeling nauseated all the time is gone by now, nearing the end of her first trimester, and all the energy from the change means a perfect Halloween night is in store. She's showing a fair bit again, so the obvious choice is to go as a recently deceased woman still dressed to kill - meaning, a pants suit stolen from Leslie a long time ago and extremely comfortable loafers with plenty of cushion - but with all of her body's gases building up and bloating her.
It's a perfect ensemble piece for Andy's hayseed from the cover of a romance novel and Jack's pumpkin. Their little Jack-o-Lantern is two years old on the very night they go.
"Okay, my disgusting baby boy," April mutters, helping Jack slip into the soft sleeves of the pumpkin costume. "Are you ready for the coolest birthday party ever?"
"Yes," he nods vigorously as he tries on the motion of the new outfit. It must be a snug fit because he marches around April, chanting, "Ma, go! Ma, go!"
"All right, bud, let's let your ma get her costume on, okay?" Andy swoops in, taking her place in helping Jack get his arms in the costume. He has a fake stalk of pasture grass stuck in his mouth while he talks, a sleeveless flannel shirt and thin overalls completing his idea of a farmer. "C'mon, up ya go."
When April returns, Andy gives her a wolfish grin before shaking himself out of it and picking Jack up to leave. Andy neglected going to the gym at all this week, instead being with Jack, and his compromise is carrying Jack for a large chunk of the next hour's festivities.
The first house is fine, a blast even, though their new neighbor that answers the door thinks April is dressed as a pregnant Governor Knope. That sucks. Jack, however, lights up when he walks up the front steps so carefully by crouching to get his balance right on the first step and almost climbing up each one, and his reward is a pile of candy thrown into a pillowcase. They retreat with their treasure and April gives the lady a scathing look, trying to turn her body without twisting her head around as best she can.
All that really does is give her a neck spasm and make the second house a pain. It builds and builds for a while, a mild congestion springing up out of nothing and compounded by muscles tiring just as quick as they were brought to life at the start of the night. It only gets worse, and April forgets what time it is and what house they're at, only trying to wince through the night.
"Okay, we're gonna do a few more and then-"
"Can we sit for a second?" April doesn't so much as stop as drop down on the curb, a tiny bit of concrete the only thing keeping her from falling down onto the street. "Oh, crap."
"Sick?" Jack asks from Andy's arms. He learned the word pretty quickly since that month she was nothing but sick.
"No, Jack. Remember you're gonna have a little sister? Or brother? Or both..." he chuckles and shakes his head. "No, that could never happen! Wait... honey, are you okay? D'you need to go the doctor? Wait! You're not giving birth, right?"
"Andy, it's only been like four months starting tomorrow," she reminds him and sighs, fatigue setting in at a blistering pace. It's starting to feel like Jack's pregnancy, that bizarre up-and-down of exhaustion and excitement all within a few hours. Andy sets Jack down. "I think this night is just kicking my butt. Can we go home? I should be fine on the way back..."
Just then, Jack gives her upper arm a hug. He wraps his little hands together where they meet around her arm. "Ma, go!"
The laughter starts dry in her chest and before long Jack joins her, not understanding but giggling nonetheless, and April turns to look into those bright, brown eyes. Smiling against her better judgment, that fatigue dulls inside and she asks, "You wanna go home Jack? Or more houses? More candy?"
"Go!" he points in the direction they were just walking, clearly wanting more of the little chocolate bars in his bag.
"Whaddya say, babe?" April looks up at Andy, whose smile is so subtle and nothing like the pure joy from before. His eyes are soft, taking in what's in front of him. "Andy, you good for another house or two?"
"You're not too sick? What about our extra cargo?" he asks with a chuckle.
"I can do one more house," she says, meeting him in the middle. If she didn't stop soon it might be her that Andy will need to carry for a while. "C'mon, monster boy."
The return trip takes a bit longer than expected, and Jack nearly falls asleep in Andy's arms at least once.
"Was today fun?" Andy asks him, kissing the tired pumpkin's head.
"Yes," is the word Jack tries to say but it mostly comes out as a sleepy jumble of noise.
"How about you babe?" he glances over at April, who walks with careful steps. "Fun?"
April mimics the noise Jack made, complete with a bit of a raspberry, which seems like the funniest thing Jack has ever heard judging by his laughter. It quickly dies down, his eyelids so heavy after a long night. She leans into Andy a bit more, thankful for his sudden change of heart about fitness all those years ago. She finds that fatigue blunted again by that love for the throaty, high-pitched laughter of her son. April holds Andy, arm around his waist, as they walk the three of them - four, she reminds herself - back home.
The whole night, from getting Jack ready to falling asleep in Andy's comforting arms, is so worth all the frustration.