Alex and Casey had spent the entire month of October planning for their wedding and after days of solitude, they had finally put the finishing touches on their wedding. As a surprise, Mr. Cabot paid for the venue the two of them had wanted but knew they couldn't afford. They had planned on decorating the venue themselves, but Mr. Cabot said that was unheard of. He wanted his daughter and future daughter-in-law to be pampered on their wedding day, so he hired a team of decorators to set up everything for them. Casey's parents didn't have much money, but they offered to pay for their wedding cake. Alex and Casey agreed that the wedding cake was their favorite part of wedding planning, especially because it meant they were able to taste test all of the cakes.
As they were taste-testing, the two of them tried not to embarrass Casey's parents, but they couldn't help being giddy around each other. Instead of eating the cake samples with the forks that were provided, Alex and Casey picked up the samples with their fingers and fed them to each other. When Alex least expected it, Casey playfully smeared frosting on her lips and Alex reciprocated by kissing her on the cheek with her frosting-covered lips. Casey had tried to wipe the frosting off with a napkin, but Alex kissed her on the other cheek.
The two of them became so playful with each other that Mr. and Mrs. Novak had a hard time believing they were grown women, let alone grown women who faced some of the most hardened criminals on a regular basis.
"Your daughter brings out a side of me that no one else has," Alex told Mr. and Mrs. Novak.
"I love her so much," Casey said to her parents as they were placing their order. "Alex is the woman I'm going to spend the rest of my life with."
Her parents didn't mind the two of them being affectionate with each other. In fact, they knew from firsthand experience that Alex and Casey were an affectionate couple after what they witnessed in their daughter's bedroom the month before. They may have teased them about it, but Mr. and Mrs. Novak were thrilled that their daughter had found someone who was so crazy about her.
Two weeks had passed since they had gone taste-testing with Mr. and Mrs. Novak and they were still as giddy and affectionate as ever. They had planned on spending their Halloween cuddling up to each other on the couch with a bottle of wine and a couple of horror movies, but Abbie and Serena asked them if they could watch Bry-Anne because they both had to work late and the college girl who usually babysat had plans with her friends that night. Alex and Casey loved watching five-year-old Bry-Anne, but they knew tonight they would have to do more than play Barbies and watch Dora the Explorer. It was Halloween night and little Bry-Anne had been excited about trick-or-treating ever since her parents had bought her an '80s girl costume. Instead of wanting to dress like her friends, little Bry-Anne insisted on wearing a ruffled skirt, a neon mesh shirt with a black tank top underneath and lots of bangle bracelets. When she greeted her Auntie Casey and Auntie Alex, Bry-Anne's hair was in a high sideways ponytail, her bangs were teased, and she was wearing sunglasses with glittery frames.
"Don't you look beautiful," Alex said as she hugged Bry-Anne.
"Thank you," Bry-Anne said. "Can we go trick-or-treating now?"
"Not yet," Abbie told her. She had managed to take a couple of hours off of work to pick Bry-Anne up from kindergarten and help her get ready, but as much as she wanted to spend the evening with her daughter, she knew she had to leave.
"But I wanna go now!" Bry-Anne said and stomped her feet.
"You need to eat first," Abbie insisted. "And only one piece of candy tonight. You have school tomorrow and I don't want you staying up all night."
"I want two candies," Bry-Anne said and held up two fingers. "Two, mommy!"
"Serena Bry-Anne Carmichael," Abbie said sternly. "If I hear you talk back to me one more time—just once—I'll tell your aunties not to take you trick-or-treating at all."
Bry-Anne hugged her mom. "I'm sorry, Mommy. I'll be good."
"Are you sure you two want to have a baby someday?" Abbie asked as her daughter was eating Chicken McNuggets and Apple Dippers. "They're so cute when they're babies, but then they turn into that little monster over there."
"I'm a cute little monster," Bry-Anne insisted.
"A very cute little monster," Abbie said and smiled at her daughter. Casey's heart nearly melted when she saw Bry-Anne smile the same dimpled smile as her mom. Any doubt in her mind about wanting to have a child with Alex was officially gone.
"I can't wait to see a miniature version of Alex," Casey said dreamily.
Alex rested her head on her fiancée's shoulder. "Oh, I can hold off on labor pains and morning sickness, but I know it'll be worth it once we're holding him or her."
Abbie started shaking her head. "We felt that way about Bry-Anne once."
"Not anymore?" Alex asked, confused.
"That feeling never goes away," Abbie told them. "She's a troublemaker and she's spoiled as all hell, but Serena and I love her more as each day goes by. We can't imagine our lives without that little girl."
"Mommy!" Bry-Anne shouted. "Mommy, I'm done eating!"
"Go wash your hands, sweetheart," Abbie turned around and said to her daughter. The five-year-old took off to the bathroom only to call out to her mom a few seconds later.
"Mommy! I can't reach the sink!"
Abbie gently rubbed Alex's knee. "This is exactly what you have to look forward to," she said jokingly.
Once Bry-Anne's hands were clean and she was watching the Disney Channel, Abbie decided to have a serious talk with her best friends. She pulled a small black box out of her purse and handed it over to Alex and Casey.
"Is this what I think it is?" Alex asked once she opened the box. Inside was the most beautiful three-stone diamond ring she had ever seen.
"It is," Abbie said, trying to hide her excitement. "I know three-stone rings are usually for anniversaries, but I think Serena deserves more than a solitaire after having my child and putting up with me for ten years. Ten years? Can you believe it? She's been waiting ten years for this ring. I know we're going to be together forever with or without this ring, but it's going to look good on her and she should have something to show for the past ten years besides an adorable daughter and a drop dead gorgeous girlfriend."
"Aren't you a humble one," Casey said sarcastically.
"You have a good woman," Alex told Abbie. "Make this proposal everything she's ever dreamed of."
"Do you know how you're proposing?" Casey asked.
Abbie just winked at her. "That's my little secret."
"I'm assuming Alex and I aren't going to want to know," Casey told her.
"Exactly," Abbie responded. "I need to hurry back if I want to finish in time to pick up Serena. Thanks again for taking Bry-Anne trick-or-treating. I'll pick her up tomorrow before she goes to school."
Alex and Casey sensed Bry-Anne's impatience, so they decided to take her trick-or-treating earlier than they had expected to. There were plenty of children in Casey's building, so they started there. Casey's apartment was on the tenth floor, so they began on that floor and worked their way down. By the time she reached the first floor, Bry-Anne's feet were tired, but she was getting so much candy and compliments from adults that she didn't want to stop.
"Let's go to another building," she insisted. Not wanting to confine their favorite little girl to one area, they made their way around the city and stopped at Olivia's apartment where she had a special goody bag waiting for her. As the only child of Abbie and Serena and the only child in Alex, Casey, and Olivia's lives, Bry-Anne was always spoiled on Halloween. This year, she was given candy, a new Barbie, and two Disney Princess coloring books in her goody bag.
"Thank you, Auntie Liv," Bry-Anne said as she gave her a hug.
Alex and Casey said their goodbyes to Olivia and went to their final stop: Abbie and Serena's building. While they were there, Bry-Anne met up with one of her friends and the two of them went door-to-door with Alex and Casey trailing not too far behind.
"Did you go trick-or-treating as a little girl?" Casey asked her fiancée as they were looking ahead at Bry-Anne.
"It was never one of my favorite holidays," Alex said glumly.
"Halloween is the best part about being a kid," Casey told her. "You dress up as whatever you want and get free candy. What's not to like?"
"My baby sister died on Halloween," Alex said as she gripped Casey's hand tighter than she had in a long time.
"Babe, I'm so sorry," Casey responded. After that, holding hands was no longer good enough. She wrapped her arm around Alex's waist and pulled her close to her.
"It's okay," Alex told her. "Well, it's not okay, but it's okay. I never met her, but I remember the night she died. I was only four-years-old when it happened but I remember everything about that night. I was dressed as Cinderella. It was such a beautiful costume and my mom had spent an hour on my hair that morning and I tried my hardest to keep every strand in place. She was about to take me trick-or-treating when she went into labor. My preschool teacher had taught us about calling 911, so I ran over to the phone and when my mom went to the hospital, I stayed with a neighbor and waited for Daddy to take me trick-or-treating, but he never came. Our neighbor was an older woman who really didn't like children, so I sat on the living room couch for hours on end, just trying not to cry. When Daddy finally came to get me, he explained to me that my baby sister was stillborn. Well, he explained it to me as best as he could explain that to a four-year-old. After that, my parents always mourned my baby sister on Halloween and they never felt like taking me trick-or-treating, which is understandable. I always went with friends and their parents, but I could never be happy on Halloween because I'd always think about her. She would have been turning thirty-five today, Case, and I know this sounds childish but I like to think she's with Mom right now and they're celebrating her birthday together."
"That's exactly what they're doing," Casey reassured her.
"Casey?"
"Yes, love of my life?"
"This is the first Halloween I've ever enjoyed," Alex said and kissed her fiancée on the cheek.
Casey looked at the beautiful woman standing next to her and she couldn't believe after all the time they had spent together, she was still learning something new about Alex and she would get to spend the rest of her life learning about Alex.