The Thornton family arrived at Abigail's Diner and it was fairly slow given the fact that it was Monday evening, "Jack, Elizabeth," Clara Flynn greeted them, "Your usual table is all ready," she gestured, "I'll let Abigail know to bring out your drink orders."
"Okay, thanks Clara," said Jack as the family took a seat. Abigail and Clara weren't natives of Hope Valley. Abigail had grown up in the suburbs of Philadelphia as did her first husband, Noah Stanton. They had married right out of high school and right before Noah went into the police academy. After Noah had graduated and Abigail had finished college at Villanova University with a degree in marketing, they had decided to move to Maryland shortly after their son, Peter, was born. Sadly Noah, had died while on duty fifteen years ago, in 2003, and shortly afterwards, in 2008, Peter had died in a tragic car accident not long after marrying his college sweetheart, Clara. Abigail's grief nearly caused her to close the diner and move back home to Philly when she decided to seek guidance from the new pastor at Hope Valley Community Church. Abigail and Pastor Frank Hogan had hit it off right away and something between the two of them clicked. They had now been married for eight years and had adopted two siblings from foster care, Becky and Cody, just two year ago. Abigail had decided to keep the diner open and had even offered Clara a job. It was through the diner that Clara had met her husband, Jesse Flynn, an employee of Lee Coulter's construction company. They married the same year Abigail and Frank had married, in 2010, and they had two boys, Joshua Peter "Josh" Flynn and Adam Joel Flynn. Clara was also six months pregnant with the couple's third child, another boy to be named Seth Timothy Flynn.
Abigail brought at the drinks and looked around the table, "Aren't Lee, Rosemary, and the kids supposed to be joining you?" she asked.
"They are, I don't know why they're running so late," Elizabeth sighed.
"They're probably running on LeVeaux time," Jack chuckled. Jack and Rosemary had grown up together in a small town in New York, about two hours from New York City. Elizabeth was also from New York, but grew up in the Hamptons, the daughter of a wealthy ship-builder, William Thatcher. Both Jack and Rosemary had decided to attend a small college in Westminster, Maryland, McDaniel College, with Jack majoring in sociology with a criminal justice specialization and Rosemary majoring in Theatre Arts with a minor in Pre-K-12 education. It was at McDaniel that Jack met Elizabeth, an elementary education major who had decided to break Thatcher family tradition of Cornell University for a small, liberal arts college, and Rosemary met Leland "Lee" Coulter, a business administration major from Hagerstown, Maryland hoping of opening his own construction business. They had all decided to stay in Maryland after college and they were now raising their families in Hope Valley.
"Yoo hoo!" everyone heard and glanced over to find Rosemary waving. The Coulters walked over to the table and Rosemary sat down next to Elizabeth, "Sorry we're late. I had to feed the baby before we came here."
"Not a problem, Rosie," said Elizabeth, patting Violet's head as she slept in her car seat.
"Aunt Elizabeth, Mommy says you and Uncle Jack are coming to my birthday party on Saturday!" said Lilly excitedly.
"We most certainly are," affirmed Elizabeth and Lilly grinned from ear to ear.
"You don't have to work Saturday, right?" Lee asked Jack, leaning closer to him.
"No, why?" he questioned back.
"Because, with Lilly having a Frozen themed party, Rosie plans on having 'Let It Go' play in a continual loop on her iPod. I'll need someone there to help me keep my sanity," Jack chuckled as Lee continued, "I mean don't get me wrong, the movie was okay the first time, not the 200th time, but you know Lilly and Rosie's obsession with Disney," Jack nodded. Rosie had had two tabby cats named Simba and Nala and two Dalmatian dogs named Pongo and Perdita growing up; thankfully, Lee had convinced Rosie to name their current two tabby cats something different. She had chosen the names Romeo and Juliet, "Between the constant screenings of Frozen and Moana and the fact that about the only thing that soothes the baby is Rosie's singing, and she always chooses a Disney song or a Broadway show tune, I've about had it up to here with princesses and plays," Lee gestured.
Jack laughed, "Sounds like we need to have a guy's day with William and Aaron sometime soon."
"Gentlemen," Rosemary sing-songed to get their attention, "What are we talking about?"
"Nothing, sweetheart," Lee smiled and kissed her cheek.
When their meals arrived, Elizabeth went straight to work in planning the Halloween celebration, "Well, as always, we'll have the different categories for the costume contest: Most Original, Cutest, Best Couple/Family Costume, and Funniest."
"We're going to win Best Family Costume, right Mommy?" asked Lillian.
"Of course we are, as we do every year," she smiled and high-fived her daughter. The Coulter family was well known for creating Broadway themed costumes, including Captain and Maria Von Tropp and a few children from The Sound of Music, Daddy Warbucks, Miss Hannigan, Annie, and Sandy from Annie, Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, and Puss in Boots from Shrek, and Gomez, Morticia, Puglsey, and Wednesday Addams from The Addams Family and that was all in the time since Aaron had been born. That wasn't including all of the Broadway-themed costumes Rosie had made Lee wear in college and before they had children.
"What are you guys going as this year? I'm afraid to ask," said Jack.
"It involves a blonde princess, a red-haired princess, an iceman, a reindeer, and a talking snowman," said Lee, slightly bitter.
"Oh, of course," Jack and Elizabeth said simultaneously.
"Mrs. Dottie made me a blue dress that looks exactly like Elsa's dress that I can wear to my party on Saturday AND for our costume AND for trick-or-treating!" Lilly waved her hands around excitedly.
Abigail came over and smiled at the two families, "Does anyone want dessert?"
"A slice of your famous chocolate cherry cake if you have it," answered Rosemary just as Violet started to cry, "Um, in a to-go container, please?"
"No problem," said Abigail.
"Is she alright?" asked Jack.
"Yes, she's just really colicky," said Rosemary, cradling her in her arms, "She normally starts screaming for no reason around 5:00 and doesn't stop for a good 2-3 hours. It's okay baby," she soothed, though it didn't make a difference.
"That's the one thing I hate about the baby is she loves to cry for no reason," Lilly whispered to Elizabeth. Elizabeth chuckled. Everyone knew Lilly adored being a big sister to Aaron and Violet and had fallen in love with both of them the moment she had laid eyes on them at the hospital, but Aaron had been a much more easy-going baby than Violet was.
Abigail brought the cake and Lee quickly paid before they waved their farewells, "We're still going to take you up on that babysitting offer sometime soon," called Rosemary.
The Thorntons laughed and Jack shook his head, "Poor Lee, having to deal with three stubborn Coulter girls. At least he's a good sport about the Halloween costumes."
"Yes, but they always look cute though," said Elizabeth. They both paid as well before leaving the diner.
Once they reached the car, Jack turned to Elizabeth and said, "We should give them a run for their money this year."
"Excuse me?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.
"With the costume contest. They always win Best Couple/Family Costume because nobody really runs against then. We should come up with a good family costume: you, me, William, and the girls."
"Jack," Elizabeth laughed, "We don't usually dress up. We just let the kids wear costumes."
"We could," said Jack, "Come on Lizzie, it could be fun!" he pleaded.
Elizabeth sighed. Jack only used the nickname 'Lizzie' when he really wanted something, "Please Mommy? Uncle Lee, Aunt Rosemary, Aaron, and Lilly win at everything," said Mary.
"Yeah," agreed Charlotte and William nodded.
"Alright, alright," Elizabeth succumbed to the pressure, "But just this one Halloween."
The kids and Jack all cheered as Elizabeth laughed quietly to herself. This was going to be an interesting Halloween.