Gentle safe vore, a little stuffing, lots of g/t fluff and comfort.

"Edward dear, it's time to carve pumpkins!"

Edward didn't even look up at the colorful owl as she stepped onto the landing. "Can I skip out on that activity? I'm almost done reading a really good book."

"I want to carve pumpkins!" Ginger piped up from Edward's shoulder.

"We can go downstairs when I finish this book...and the next volume."

"We have snacks downstairs, dearie."

That got the boy's attention. He looked up at the owl and raised an eyebrow, lowering his book a bit. "Is that a bribe?"

"No, hon, it's an invitation to join us downstairs."

"No, thanks."

"B-but Ed, you're always up in Yuki's library when we come over now. You should go down and hang out with everyone else. It'll be fun!"

Phoenix's head swiveled back and forth from Edward to the tiny ocelot sitting on his shoulder. "She's right you know, dearie. You're always welcome to join us."

"C'mon, Ed, please? I've never carved a pumpkin before and I don't want to miss out…"

"I dunno…" Edward looked down at his left arm when he felt the ocelot climbing down it.

Ginger gazed up at him with wide puppy eyes and puffed out her lower lip. "Pleeeeaaaaase?" She clasped her paws together and curled her long tail around Edward's finger.

"Aww…" Edward's expression softened and Ginger could feel his tense muscles relax beneath her. "Oh, alright. Let's go make pumpkin lanterns or whatever they are."

"Yay!" Ginger raced back up Edward's arm and clung to the collar of his jacket. "You're the best, Ed!"

Edward chuckled and petted the back of Ginger's head. He closed his book, set it down on the coffee table, and got up to join Phoenix by the staircase. "Alright, Phoenix, count us in."

"I'm proud of you, dear. Now come here and let me fix those flyaways." Phoenix gently pulled the boy into her wings and used her beak to smooth down the strands of yellow hair that had escaped from his braid.

"Argh, Phoenix!" Edward pushed away from her and smoothed his hair down with his palms. "I'm not a little kid anymore!"

Phoenix gave him a sad smile. "No, I suppose you aren't. Let's go, dear." The owl turned and led the way downstairs and into the dining room, where everyone sat carving pumpkins and listening to Halloween music together.

Ginger peered over Edward's collar to get a glimpse of the designs being carved into the plump, orange pumpkins. Victor's pumpkin featured a dragon with pointy horns while Denali was carving a cute cartoon ghost into her smaller pumpkin next to him. On the other side of the table, Yuki had ditched the carving patterns and created her own look. Her pumpkin featured angry eyes, a small nose, and a wide, grinning mouth filled with plastic fangs dripping in blood red food coloring. The pumpkin next to hers had a half-finished image of bats on it, and Ginger guessed it belonged to Phoenix. Next to them were two blank pumpkins waiting to be carved. One was round and had a short stem, while the other was tiny and sported a long, twisting stem.

Ginger gasped and pointed to the miniature pumpkin. "Ed, look at that tiny pumpkin! Oh my gosh it's so cute!"

Yuki looked up at the ocelot and grinned. "That one's for you, Ginger!"

"It's mine? Oh wow, thank you, Yuki!"

"Of course! You can decorate it how you like." Yuki leaned over and patted the larger pumpkin next to hers. "And this pumpkin is yours, Ed."

But Edward wasn't looking at the pumpkins. He was gazing at the bowls of treats and snacks on a stand in the middle of the table, his eyes wide with longing. There was a large bowl of chocolate bars with Halloween-themed wrappers, a smaller bowl filled with candy corn, and a plate of marshmallows with little ghost faces made of chocolate icing.

"Ed, help yourself to the candy while you carve your pumpkin."

"Thanks, Yuki." Edward carefully set Ginger down by her tiny pumpkin and grabbed a handful of candy corn before he sat down in his chair and shoved the candy into his mouth.

Ginger ran to the miniature pumpkin and hugged it to her chest before she stepped back and walked around to the other side. "It's so pretty, I don't want to carve it!"

"I don't want you to use a knife anyway, Gingersnap." Edward said through a mouthful of candy corn and marshmallows. "I don't want you getting hurt, alright?"

"I thought of that too, which is why I have these!" Yuki grabbed a pawful of small markers and set them down on the table in front of Ginger's pumpkin.

"Thanks, Yuki!" Ginger grabbed the purple marker in both paws and began to draw on her pumpkin. "What are you gonna put on your pumpkin, Ed?"

"I dunno...but it's gonna be cool!"

Ginger giggled. "You're right, Ed! I can't wait to see it when you're done!"

"I can't wait to see yours too, Gingersnap."

For a while everyone worked on carving their pumpkins while listening to Halloween music, and eating plenty of snacks in Edward's case. When Yuki finished her carving early, she took a big bowl of pumpkin seeds and disappeared into the kitchen to season and roast the seeds for another snack.

I wonder what Ed is making his pumpkin into… All I see are big flashes of light and his pumpkin changes shape! Ginger peeked around her pumpkin and gazed up at Edward, only to find him munching on a chocolate bar and adding empty wrappers to the growing pile next to his shape-shifting pumpkin. He's so silly! The ocelot playfully shook her head and went back to her work.

-

"All done!" Ginger beamed as she took a step back to admire her hard work. She had drawn a colorful cartoon ghost with cat ears and whiskers on the front of her pumpkin, and wrote her nickname in spindly letters on the back.

"It looks great, Gingersnap!" Edward grinned as he patted her gently on the head.

"Thanks, Ed! Can I see yours?"

"Sure."

Ginger walked around to the front of Edward's much larger pumpkin and looked up to admire it. The pumpkin was now much taller and thinner than it had been before, and Edward had carved his likeness onto the front of it. It was a face he frequently used on decoys, and the pumpkin version even had a curved antenna crafted from the stem of the pumpkin. "Whoa, Ed, that looks awesome! How did you do that?!" She asked.

"Well I used alchemy to cut the holes for the eyes and mouth and grafted the extra pumpkin skin into the sides to make it taller and I made the skin thinner so it could be even taller so therefore it looks just like me!" Edward smirked and proudly pointed his thumb to his chest.

"Ed, that's amazing! It does look like you!"

"It is pretty great, isn't it? You know what...I think it's missing something pretty important."

"What's that, Ed?"

Edward carefully took Ginger's smaller pumpkin in his hand and nestled it inside the mouth of his own jack-o-lantern.

Ginger clapped her paws together and squeaked in delight. "It's just like us!"

"Yeah it is. And do ya know what this means?"

Ginger put her paw to her chin and thought for a moment, staring up at Edward as he ran his tongue across his lips. When he trailed his finger down his throat, her tail perked up in excitement. "Ohh, do I get to go in your tummy?"

Edward smirked. "Right you are, Gingersnap. C'mere." He carefully picked Ginger up and carried her out of the room. When he got to the living room, he held the ocelot up and dangled her over his mouth. "Is this what you want, little one?~"

"Yeah!" Ginger giggled when Edward's tongue tickled her paw pads. "I'm like a tiny pumpkin!"

"Well I think you're more of a tiny, tasty treat for me~" Edward dropped Ginger into his mouth and gently swished her around with his tongue.

Ginger mewled happily and hugged her friends big, warm tongue close to her chest. She wiggled around in his maw, coating his tongue in her own delectable flavor of chocolate and ginger. Eventually, the boy gathered more saliva in his mouth, tilted his tongue up, and gulped her down.

Ginger could feel the sides of Edward's throat squeezing her from all sides as she slipped down. When she entered his stomach, she landed amongst piles of chewed up candy corn and chocolate. She got up and tottered over to the slick wall of his stomach and gave it a hug as well. "Ed, your tummy seems very happy!" She beamed.

"How can you tell?"

"It's making lots of sounds!"

"That's because you're in it." Edward snickered as he hugged his soft stomach in his arms. "That and I'm still hungry… I'm gonna go see if Yuki has any more snacks for me."

"Okay!"

-

In the kitchen, Yuki gave him some roasted pumpkin seeds, a few slices of apple pie, and a glass of apple cider and set it on the kitchen island so he could sit and eat it.

"Ahh, much better." Edward leaned back in the tall chair, surveying the empty plates and bowls in front of him. He let out a burp and rested his left hand atop his full and slightly bloated stomach.

"Boop!" Yuki squeaked as she poked his chubby belly, chuckling when her finger sunk into the fat and she heard Ginger giggle. "You guys are so cute!" The snow leopard wrapped her arms around Edward and nuzzled her fluffy cheek against him.

"Yuki!" Edward growled playfully and pushed her away from him. "Why are you guys so lovey-dovey?"

Yuki stepped back and glanced down at him. "I don't have any kiddos of my own, Ed. To put it simply, you're like a cub to me." The snow leopard smiled softly as she ruffled his golden hair with her paw.

Edward blinked a few times and fought to suppress the wave of guilt rushing over him. He turned in his seat and gave Yuki a tight hug around the waist, smiling when her arms tightened around him. "I know I don't say it as often as I should, but...I'm really glad I have you, Yuki."

"I'm happy you're with us now, Ed, the holidays wouldn't be the same without you and Ginger around!"

"I'm glad I met you and the others, Yuki!" Ginger added.

Yuki chuckled softly and put her muzzle up to Edward's stomach for a moment. "I'm glad I met you too, Ginger! You're such a sweetheart. You and Ed have a special bond, he'd be a wreck without you." She stood up straight and winked at Edward. "We're always here for you whenever you need us, buddy."

"Yeah, everyone except that selfish fox and his uptight girlfriend. I can't believe she loves a face like his - he always looks like he's constipated!" Edward snorted.

"Well it's a good thing I didn't invite them. What they don't know won't hurt them." Yuki twitched her tail and gave Edward a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Alright goofball, let's go put some candles in our awesome pumpkins. It's dark enough outside to watch them glow!"

-

Edward went back into the living room and Ginger crawled back up his throat and into his mouth while he was laying down. He let her relax inside his warm mouth so she could see the jack-o-lanterns while staying out of the chilly air outside. When he walked out onto the front porch, Yuki, Phoenix, Denali, and Victor were already standing around admiring their glowing creations. Five jack-o-lanterns sat on the steps, their lights flickering from the lit candles sitting inside each of them. The sixth pumpkin, Ginger's tiny ghost cat, was still safely nestled inside Edward's tall pumpkin and was visible through its carved mouth.

"They look awesome, don't they?" Yuki grinned.

"Yeah!" Victor's feathers puffed out with pride. "They all look pretty spooky."

Edward only nodded in agreement. He stood with his mouth slightly open so that Ginger could look out between his teeth to see the jack-o-lanterns on the steps.

In his dark maw, Ginger's mismatched eyes gleamed in the light from the candles. "The jack-o-lanterns look amazing, don't they, Ed?"

"Yeah. Unhhh…"

"Ed, what's wrong?" Ginger looked down past Edward's chin and saw that his hand was resting over his bulging belly. "Oh no, do you have a tummy ache?"

"Uh-uh."

"Are you just full?"

"Uh huh."

Ginger giggled. "I'm glad you don't have a tummy ache. I promise I'll rub your belly when we get inside!"

"Uh huh, uh huh." Edward closed his mouth a bit to prevent Ginger from falling out when he eagerly nodded his head.

"Good job everyone!" Yuki said after a few minutes. "Now let's head in so I can make some hot chocolate. I have marshmallows shaped like ghosts and pumpkins!"

Edward immediately perked up and appeared to forget the fact he had already eaten a bit too much snack food. He fist pumped the air and gently moved Ginger into his cheek so that he could talk. "Count me in!"

-

About half an hour and four glasses of hot chocolate and marshmallows later, Edward was sitting in the living room with everyone else. Ginger had already curled up on top of his soft, warm belly and had fallen asleep listening to the loud gurgles and rumbles his full stomach was emitting.

After a while, Victor and Denali stood up together and announced that they were going to head home and that they'd see everyone soon. Phoenix decided to stay at Yuki's house overnight so the snow leopard wouldn't have to be alone.

"Well, we'd better head home too." Edward told the women once the others had left.

"Ed, why don't you two stay overnight? You know I have two sad and empty guests rooms."

Edward looked away from the snow leopard and anxiously scratched the back of his head. "I-I don't know…" When he glanced back up at the women and saw the hopeful looks on their faces, he relaxed his shoulders and gave them a smile. "I'll stay on one condition - we all make pancakes for breakfast tomorrow."

Yuki laughed out loud and playfully shook her head. "Deal!"