A/N:I'd like to take a tiny moment to thank you all for being so understanding about the priority of my exams. Also, if you're still here reading this story, you are A-MA-ZING! I was going to wait till Sunday to upload this like usual, but I literally couldn't wait. It's a celebration of the end of my exams. Now I just have to sit and worry about whether I failed...

This chapter serves to introduce Emily to multiple things: Elvis, Halloween and parties. I hope you'll all like it. Sometime near October I will, if this story is still going, write another Halloween scene to include Emily going trick or treating with the kids. Please leave a review to let me know what you thought.

Uh Huh Huh

"Come on, Emily. You have to come out – you look perfect," Matt called through their closed bedroom door.

"Really?" Emily asked doubtfully, looking at herself in their mirror. Drawing Vera Lynn from the hat of names hadn't worried Emily. But now that she was dressed like her, Emily couldn't help feeling she would look ridiculous next to everyone else. Abby had already shown her her Lady Gaga costume and it was extravagant whilst Emily's outfit was boring.

"Really," he confirmed.

Emily took a deep breath and opened the door, allowing Matt into the bedroom.

Matt's jaw dropped the second he saw her. She looked simply astonishing. Her hair framed her face in perfect, sweetheart curls, complimenting her rosy cheeks and clear skin. Her eyes were surrounded by thick lashes that lured Matt towards her until she was wrapped in his arms.

"Vera Lynn was one pretty lady," he told her.

Emily rubbed her cheek against the smooth satin of his shirt and mumbled, "Who're you going as?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"If it was, would I ask?"

"Yeah, you're right. Well, I want to wait to see everyone else's reaction before I tell you…"

Emily rolled her eyes and picked her bag up from the bed. "Come on, let's go or we'll be the last ones there." She paused in the doorway and asked, "Oh, you paid Kirsty right?"

"Yes, Emily, I've paid the babysitter," Matt replied, gently pushing her out the doorway, "and before you ask, Robert will be completely fine with Kirsty. Abby recommended her."

"Okay, I'll just be one minute."

Emily bustled into the adjacent room and bent over her ten month old son who was peacefully sleeping in his cot. She softly kissed his cheek, savouring the soft scent that still surrounded him, and returned to Matt, passing twenty year old Kirsty, who was sat on the sofa and called goodbye to them.

The drive to the ARC was filled with Emily needlessly worrying about her infant son and Matt was constantly trying to reassure her. But he understood her worries – it was the first time she had left him since he'd been born.

When they arrived at the ARC, the party was in full swing – music blaring from the speakers and staff swaying under the temporary disco ball Jess had managed to persuade Lester to put up. The afro of someone dressed as Michael Jackson was visible from quite some distance away and someone had even gone as far as to dress as Kylie Minogue in her Can't Get You Out Of My Head video and was surrounded by back-up dancers, each dressed in a similar fashion with those ridiculous hats.

Jess' music legends theme for their Halloween party was certainly going down a hit. Matt scanned the room and finally spotted Connor and Abby laughing and doing stupid dance moves like 'big fish, little fish, cardboard box'. The pair of them weren't well matched in terms of costume – whilst Abby was wearing an exaggeratedly large dress covered in tea-cups, Connor had covered his hair in a black hat and wore a grey blazer with his jeans. He was also wearing a pair of square, thick black glasses with the lenses taken out. Around his neck, lying against his back, he had hung an electric guitar, though Matt doubted he had the ability to play the instrument as well as Elvis Costello.

"Whoa!" Connor said as soon as he noticed them coming towards him. "Emily's a lady!"

Abby snorted and replied jokingly, "And the fact that her name is Lady Emily Merchant had nothing to do with you coming to that conclusion?"

"You know what I mean. Look at her-you. It's one fantastic looking costume."

Abby nodded and hugged Emily as Matt clapped Connor on the back.

"You seen Becker, mate?"

"Nah. He and Jess disappeared very early on. Not surprising considering she came as Marilyn Monroe, if you get my drift," Connor answered, going back to his dance moves, jerking his head and framing his face with his hands whilst he dug his teeth into his bottom lip.

"Aren't you going to do the voice, Matt?" Abby asked as she held Connor's hands to his sides to stop any more of his embarrassing dance moves.

"I'm saving it for later. Apparently Jess wants everyone to do karaoke – you have to sing who you came as – so it's my finale piece. You'll have to wait like everyone else."

"Come on, mate, just one 'uh huh huh.'"

"Sorry, Connor."

Connor grumbled and stalked away, probably going to sulk in his lab whilst Abby cheered him up.

Matt turned and found Emily staring at him with an appraising eye, though looking embarrassed to have been caught staring at a particular part of his anatomy, and in public no less.

Matt grinned and kissed her, wrapping his arms around her slim waist once more.

"Come on, let's go find Jess. I can't wait to see what Becker let her dress him in."

Emily nodded and followed Matt through the crowd of dancing ARC employees. They soon found Jess and Becker in one of the corridors jokingly bickering over their costumes. Becker was dressed to look like Johnny Cash whilst Jess wore the iconic white halterneck dress of Marilyn Monroe.

"Jess," Becker argued, "Marilyn Monroe isn't a music legend. She was an actress."

"But she released a single."

"That doesn't make her a legend. You just wanted to be able to wear that dress. And why did you have to give me these ridiculous shoes?"

"Those are lovely shoes," Matt smirked.

Becker scowled whilst Jess cooed over Emily in her costume.

"I must say, everybody looks spectacular," Emily commented as Jess led her back into the party.

"Oh, just wait, Emily, Sarah and the other Secretaries aren't even here yet. They're coming as the Spice Girls!"

"The Spice Girls?"

"Yep," Jess answered, too caught up in her own excitement to realise that Emily had no idea what she was talking about. "We've even got someone dressed as Meatloaf, Jodie came as Dolly Parton with the fake breasts and all, and Tony from the kitchens is Mick Jagger – dancing and all I'll have you know. The only person I haven't seen is Lester."

"You expect Mr Lester to dress up?"

Becker snorted from behind them. "Now that is something I would pay to see."

"Quite a lucrative business, I should imagine," Matt replied.

"We have to find him a costume then," Becker said, turning and heading to Lester's office. Jess took Emily's hand and dragged her after him, worried about what exactly he was planning.

"I'm thinking David Bowie," he said to Matt as they ploughed through the corridor, effortlessly pushing open the double doors.

"Yes!"

A voice behind them drew them all to a halt. "I was planning something more sophisticated, along the lines of Sinatra, perhaps."

"Sir?" Becker asked, sure he had misheard his boss.

"But if Miss Parker has a costume, perhaps I shall go as David Bowie. My wife has been pestering me for quite some time about living a little. She's here tonight so this ought to please her."

Emily and Jess stared at one another, whilst Becker and Matt blinked, sure they were dreaming.

"Sir? Are you alright?" Becker asked, shooting Matt a confused glance before pacing down the corridor to where Lester stood.

"Of course," he answered brusquely, already back to his usual self.

"So you want us to get you a costume?" Jess asked, siding with Becker in the feeling that there had to be something wrong with their boss. By all accounts Jess was worried that he was drunk.

"How much clearer could I bear, Miss Parker? I would like you to find me a costume and bring it to my office where I could change."

Jess gaped as Lester strode past them, heading for his office. As soon as he was out of earshot Becker fell to his knees before Jess.

"Please get him a Bowie costume. Please."

Jess looked torn.

"But what if he punishes us for it in the morning?" Her teeth roved over her bottom lip, sinking into every few seconds as she deliberated over what costume she would give Lester.

Before long Matt stepped in to help. "How about we just see what costume supplies we have left and then decide who we'll make Lester? You left the rest of the costume bits in the locker rooms didn't you, Jess?"

Jess nodded and smiled, turning on her slim heels and gliding back along the corridor towards the locker rooms.

"And I know for a fact," Matt continued in an undertone, "that the Bowie costume stuff is still there." Becker laughed and clapped him on the back as Emily drew back her own hand and swatted her husband on the shoulder.

"Be nice. He's our boss."

When they reached the locker rooms, Jess grimly muttered, "Looks like it's going to be David Bowie after all. We've only got the one costume left."

"Yes," Becker crowed.

"Why don't you go back to the party and start up the karaoke whilst I take this back to Lester?" Jess suggested.

Becker, Matt and Emily returned to the party to find the karaoke already in full swing with Sarah, Joanna, Rebecca, Katherine and Rachel – the secretaries – on stage belting out the lyrics to 'Who Do You Think You Are?' by the Spice Girls.

"Who's going next?" Becker shouted to Connor.

Connor shrugged and cheered loudly for the girls as their song came to an end.

As the five secretaries traipsed off stage, each dressed in an iconic Spice Girls outfit, Connor relayed who had already had their turn. "You even missed Abby's rendition of Bad Romance."

The crowd of employees turned impatient as no-one took to the stage.

"Matt, I think your time has come."

"Right, so I just tell the DJ which track do I, Connor?"

Connor nodded and smirked at Abby.

Sighing, Matt pressed a quick kiss to Emily's temple and slipped through the crowd to the stage.

Emily frowned slightly as Abby whispered something that caused both Becker and Connor to fall about laughing. But her worrying was cut short by the beginning of some music as Matt turned and moved towards the edge of the stage.

After he finished singing, Matt said in an Elvis style voice, "Thank you very much."

Before Matt could step down from the stage, someone barged past Emily, Abby and Connor and began pushing through the crowd. Any protests died in their mouths when they saw who it was.

Lester was making his way towards the stage, wearing a ginger mullet wig. His face was covered with a blue and red lightning bolt. Each person he passed quietened in astonishment.

Once at the stage, Lester almost physically manhandled Matt down and then turned to speak to the DJ. The opening chords of Space Oddity filled the room, and the ARC staff were frozen as Lester began singing, his voice surprisingly good.

Ground control to Major Tom

Ground control to Major Tom

Take your protein pills and put your helmet on

Ground control to Major Tom

Commencing countdown, engines on

Check ignition and may God's love be with you

"And every Halloween is like this?" Emily asked, finally breaking the silence amongst the group of friends.

"No," Abby answered. "Usually it's about horror movies and trick or treating. I think I'll be going back to that next year – unless Connor wets his pants again-"

"-Oi!" interrupted Connor. "I didn't wet my pants!"

"This has just been too weird," Abby finished as though Connor had never spoken.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this. It was certainly fun to write.