A/N: Requested by one of the best people on the planet, lunabelle. I decided to make this part of Fictober!

Quick refresher for those of you who came back recently, or new readers: Andy and April are single parents, Andy has a son (Jack) and April a daughter (Samantha). They date.

Hope you enjoy it :)

The first thing that comes up in the talk is what to do with Halloween.

Tradition isn't necessarily the single most important aspect of the Ludgates' lives, and April never wants it to be an ingrained thing, but this holiday is the only ritual that matters to both her and her daughter. It's like an excuse to remain close with the sullen teenage monster she loves.

"So, what's the plan?" Sam asks while tucking a box of her things into the bed of Andy's truck they borrowed.

"For?" April stretches her back out, trying to ignore the dull aches of aging turning the afternoon into a painful experience.

"Halloween," she answers. With a slam, Sam shuts the tailgate and stares back at the apartment building they'd be leaving behind. Neither of them like their neighbors, or have any real connections, but the next chapter of life always has a significant impact regardless of its nature. "Your dumb boyfriend probably hates it. I don't know if I can handle that."

The lease is up on her apartment again and with that, the last of April's ties to the place vanish. Sam was on board fairly quickly - an actual house, and still in the same school district - but April could only break away when all of this was handled. That way she had more time to come to terms with getting this close with someone again.

"Don't talk about Andy like that," April reprimands but she has a poorly hidden smirk when she says it. "I don't know what we're gonna do about it yet. I haven't told him."

Sam flashes her a toothy grin and jumps into the bed of the truck, emerging with a box in her hands it's all so clear. This would be the best way to introduce the two of them to their brand of horror. The costumes would probably still fit, and that box? Oh, that's a good one.

"I have a plan," she says, jiggling the large box with black marker scrawled on one side.

"Dad!"

"You already know it's gonna be cool," Andy hurries with making sure that the spare room is relieved of sheets and any of Jack's clothes. Turns out that sometimes doing the laundry is hard, and some articles chart a mysterious course to the room. "Besides, we already talked about this and you were okay with it. It's not like they're taking over the house or anything. Besides, it'll be fun having them around! You like when they come over-"

"Yeah, because they usually leave the next day," Jack is busying himself with shuffling his feet around, opening and closing dresser drawers randomly. He sighs. "It's fine, whatever."

Andy takes a deep breath and turns around. Those words never mean that, ever. Never in the history of any teenager have those words meant anything but a lack of self-awareness over how obvious it all is, and if Andy didn't know better he would think it's a petulant annoyance. But change is hard, always has been, for both of the Dwyers. Change led them to this life, just the two of them, and even if the change meant adding more to their lives the chance of backfiring and hurting could be too grave to ignore.

Sitting down on the bed, Andy tries to make it look like he's testing to make sure it isn't stiff and uncomfortable. After patting the mattress for a few seconds, he sighs again.

"Look, I'm nervous about this too," he admits to Jack.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's hard... you know, ever since your mom left," Andy can almost hear his son's head whip in his direction. They never bring it up, ever, and right now Andy needs him to know this is serious. Maybe it's a cheap tactic, but it works, and this is the truth. "It's really hard to do this just by myself, and you're probably gonna go to college in a few years but I'm tired of being... alone, son. So is she."

"Oh," is all Jack says. He probably understands a little, but the frank discussion clearly catches him off guard.

"I really want this to work. I know it'll be annoying having to share a bathroom with two girls," Andy says with a chuckle, "but just give it a chance, okay? That'd be pretty cool."

Jack is about to say something, still standing awkwardly, when the sound of a truck pulling into their driveway startles them. Looking outside, they can see Andy's truck with plenty of boxes and totes in the back, but two figures in black step out instead of April and Sam. Exchanging a look with his dad, the both of them take uneasy steps to greet their new guests.

It doesn't take long for the witches to make their presence known, throwing handfuls of fake spiders at the boys. Running inside the house with armfuls of the things, April and Sam begin shoving them everywhere they can. Bits of fake spiderwebs stuffed into clothing strewn everywhere in moments, the two of them stop when they hear Andy call for them. They finish decorating with the spiders in the dining room - one on the table for each seat - and walk out into the den.

Sam has a can hidden in her sleeve, April one behind her back.

"Hey, uh... I guess make yourselves home," Jack says and he sounds like he's trying to be sincere after shrieking when the first plastic spider landed on his face just moments before.

Andy walks up and opens his arms to give April a hug, but she has other plans. Lifting up her can of silly string, she blasts it in his face and watches his face break into a grin and laugh with the mess there. Shaking the can proves too much because in a second she is screaming out loud when he tries to lift her up. Eluding his grasp, April shouts again and shoots up the stairs yelling incoherently.

It takes a second for Jack to look up the stairs and then turn to Sam, giving her ample time to shake her can and give him a thorough Ludgate greeting. Unlike his father, Jack just groans and takes it. Slumping his shoulders, Sam wonders if maybe they went too far, before she sees Andy almost topple down the stairs covered in the gross foam.

"I'm fine. "I just gotta..." he says through a cough when Jack and Sam ask him if he needs any help. When he trails off, Andy stares in the direction of the front door. "How'd you-?"

Both kids turn to see April with a box of Halloween decorations in her arms. Reaching inside, she grabs a toy skull and throws a fastball directly towards Jack. He catches it, staring wide-eyed at one of his father's girlfriend. It takes a second before another skull fires into Andy's face who looks like he might collapse any second now.

Sam joins her mother without another thought, a mad grin stuck to her face when she finds the stuffed crows in the bottom of the box still. She manages to hide them in her costume, making an excuse to go upstairs and set one of them on the bathroom sink. Turning it so that the crow faces the door, she hears a muffled scream from the den. Opening the door, Sam already has a faint regret for the move.

"Put me down you monster!" her mother yells, again thrown over Andy's shoulder.

Whatever happens after that point, Sam doesn't want to know. She's too busy creeping down the stairs and staring at Jack, who looks like he doesn't understand what's happening in his house now. Presenting the other crow for him to see, she laughs at the sheet white his face turns after the recognition of what's in her hand settles.

And later, when they've finally unpacked everything, Jack's surprised yell is clear all the way down from the upstairs bathroom in the dining room. April gives Sam a wink and says nothing to an oblivious Andy, brushing aside a bit of hag's wig hair and passing the wink off as a minor annoyance.

When Jack comes downstairs, dangling the stuffed crow from two fingers, everything locks into place for a perfect introduction. It turns out that a little Ludgate Halloween decoration takes much longer when the Dwyers make such good targets for all sorts of goofs and tricks.