Over the next few days, Elizabeth tried her best to try to come up with a good family costume that could compete with the Coulters. Honestly, she knew it would have to be cute and creative, but Jack and she had rarely worn couples costumes, even in college. They had just let Lee and Rosemary win all of the costume contests there as well. Friday morning, the day before Lilly's birthday party, Elizabeth woke up bright and early and dropped Mary and Charlotte off at preschool before stopping by Abigail's for her usual morning coffee. Abigail smiled when she saw the young teacher enter the restaurant, "Good morning, Elizabeth!"
"Morning Abigail," smiled Elizabeth.
"I have your coffee all ready to go. Extra cream, extra sugar," Abigail handed Elizabeth the beverage in a to-go cup.
"Thanks Abigail. I'll definitely need it," Elizabeth yawned.
"What's wrong?" asked Abigail.
"Oh, I was up all night searching for good family costume ideas on my laptop," she admitted.
"Wait a minute? I thought you and Jack didn't dress up for Halloween and only the kids did?" questioned Abigail in confusion.
"We don't normally. But this year, Jack is determined to beat the Coulters in the costume contest at the town Halloween party. I think it's because of that 'sibling-like rivalry' that Rosie and he have and have had since Lee and I met them at McDaniel," Elizabeth explained.
"Wait a minute? You guys are also putting together a family costume?" asked Clara coming up beside Abigail.
"Mmhm," Elizabeth confirmed, "Or we're going to try at least. Why, are you?"
"Yes. Jesse and I have been dying to take down the Coulters in that category ever since we got married. We figure Florence, Molly, and Dottie will find the Disney aspect cute, so we're going as characters from The Little Mermaid."
"Really?" Elizabeth chuckled, raising an eyebrow.
"Yep. Jesse will be Prince Eric, I'll be Ariel, and Josh and Adam will be Flounder and Sebastian," said Clara, "Don't get me wrong, I love Rosemary. It's just that, her family wins every year and every year she gets so competitive. It would be nice to see someone else take her down."
Elizabeth snickered, but fully agreed with Clara. She looked at the time on her cell phone and stood, "I have to get to school. Thanks for the coffee, Abigail. Nice seeing you, Clara."
"Have a good day, Elizabeth," they both waved.
Later that afternoon, at lunchtime, Elizabeth was researching costumes again when Rosemary barged into her classroom. Given the fact that Rosemary did so at least once every other day, Elizabeth wasn't entirely surprised, but she was desperately trying to keep her plans a secret from Rosemary. She knew that Rosemary would try to go bigger and better to win the contest at all costs, "Yoo hoo! Elizabeth!"
"Rosemary," Elizabeth smiled.
"What are you doing?" asked Rosemary, glancing towards the laptop screen.
"Oh, just looking up Halloween costumes for the kids," she answered and closed her laptop from view. Only half of the truth, but thankfully, Rosemary seemed somewhat satisfied.
"Oh," she replied, "Well, anyways, back to why I'm here. Can you come over to our house early tomorrow to help set up for Lilly's party?"
"Of course, what time do you need us there?" asked Elizabeth.
"Well, the party starts at noon, so maybe 10:30. Lee and I bought all of the stuff from Party City last week, but we need time to hang up decorations and Lee has to pick up the cake from Giant since it'll be custom made. Not to mention Violet…"
"Rosemary, we'll be there," said Elizabeth, "Now if I remember correctly, you have my class for music this afternoon."
"Right," said Rosemary, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then." Rosemary left Elizabeth's classroom just as her friend opened up her laptop again. Rosemary couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she knew Elizabeth was hiding something from her.
Later that night, Rosemary and Lee tucked Lilly and Aaron into bed and Rosemary settled Violet into her arms to nurse. Thankfully, the infant's colic was improving slightly. Lee noticed his wife was very quiet, which was unusual, because she would at least talk to the baby when she was feeding her if nothing else, "Is something wrong, sweetheart?"
Rosemary shook her head, "No, just a lot on my mind, with Lilly's party and my classes and all."
Lee knew Rosemary wasn't telling him everything, so he put his Kindle down on his nightstand and rolled over to face his wife, "Tell me."
Rosemary stayed silent for a few more moments and stroked Violet's head before she said, "Elizabeth Thornton is up to something and I can't quite put my finger on what it is."
Lee raised his eyebrows "How do you know?"
"Well, I don't know for sure," admitted Rosemary as she began to burp the baby, "But when I went to see her earlier today, she was looking up something on her laptop that she clearly didn't want me to see."
"Honey, do you think that maybe, just maybe, Elizabeth wants some privacy?" asked Lee.
"Are you asking me to pretend like I don't get a strange feeling from what Elizabeth is planning?" asked Rosemary incredulously.
"No, I'm asking you not to jump to conclusions about anything," Rosemary went to speak, but Lee interrupted her, "I know that's like asking the sun not to rise."
Rosemary finished burping Violet and cradled her in her arms. Thankfully, she didn't start crying. Rosemary looked at her husband skeptically, but kissed his cheek anyways, "I have to go put her down."
Lee nodded and Rosemary went into the nursery. There were jungle animals and trees painted on the walls and plenty of animal toys (the kids had decided on a jungle theme for Violet's nursery since Lilly's had been princess themed and Aaron's had been the circus themed). Rosemary quietly sang Violet a lullaby and laid her in her crib. She stroked her baby girl's cheek and smiled, "We'll figure out what Auntie Elizabeth is up to, won't we sweetheart?"