A/N: This is my contribution to the Castle Halloween Bash 2017. Just some fun with this Castle family of mine. Enjoy!
The minute they enter the pop-up shop, her kids make a beeline to the area where all the costumes hang. She takes her time, browsing through the decorations, props, and scares that cover the remaining area of the store. She flinches as one triggers as she walks past, the animatronic face screams as it pushes through the crackling fabric screen of the old-fashioned TV it's trapped in, but grins when a kid runs up to it exclaiming how cool it is, begging his father to get one. Kate makes it to the costume section and looks for her kids, stopping to look at the costumes that catch her eyes. She still has yet to find one for the annual Castle Halloween Bash.
"Momma? What about this?" Her daughter asks, holding up a bag.
"I like that one," Kate smiles.
"Finn's already a Flower Child, she doesn't need a costume; all she has to do is get dressed," her brother remarks, coming over with his own bagged costume.
"I like this one," Finn states, turning back down the aisle. "I'm gonna go see if they have my size in the back."
"What do you have," Kate asks, turning to her son. He holds up the bag containing a black ninja costume. "Very cool, bud," Kate agrees, but her son simply shrugs.
"I don't know," he remarks, then disappears down the aisle to continue looking. Kate follows, but quickly turns when she hears her daughter call out.
"Oh my God! Mom! Mom, you gotta come see Austin!"
Kate turns the corner and laughs out loud at her son. "Oh my god! Austin, you have to get this one," she smiles. The eleven-year-old before her has transformed into Mario, complete with the mustache.
"Yeah?" He asks, seeking approval, though his mind was set.
"Oh, yes," Kate nods vigorously.
"Okay." And her son disappears into the temporary dressing rooms.
"What about you, Dan? You decide?"
"Yeah," her daughter nods, holding up the bag. "Saccone and I are going as Greek goddesses together. She got her costume last week and told me what to get."
"That will be cute," Kate says.
"I know, right!" Danielle agrees, blue eyes shining. The two wait together while the other four finalize their costumes. Finn returns to them disappointed that the store did not have the Hippie costume she chose in her size in stock. They had offered to order it online, but with such close proximity to the holiday, there was no guarantee it would arrive in time.
"We'll ask your Gram, okay?" Kate tries as Finn hugs her side, still pouting. "I bet she has some of her clothes from the 70's that would work."
"Yeah?" Nemo asks, hopeful.
"Yeah," Kate nods.
"Mom?" The question has Kate turning to meet her third daughter as she comes out of the dressing room, having tried on her costume.
"Yes, Mia, that looks great!" she nods. "Go get dressed so we can go, okay?"
Twenty minutes later, with bags full of costumes and accessories, the family leaves the store and heads back to their car to finish running errands for the day.
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Ten days later, on the Saturday before Halloween, the Castle house was transformed into a spooky, festive environment fit for a party. Rick and Danielle were left to supervise the crew setting up for the event while the others headed off to support Liam and his club soccer team in their fall season championship game. The boy returned triumphant, and after showing off the glittering gold trophy he had brought home, he and the rest of his siblings rushed off to get ready for the party. Danielle was already holed up in her bathroom with her best friend, who had arrived not long before everyone else did, as the two put the final touches on their costume.
They were the first to come downstairs, blonde hair curled and pulled to one side with batching flowing dressed trimmed in gold that made their blue eyes shine, or in Saccone's case, make the silvery blue disappear into the whites of her eyes. Both girls jumped and screamed as one of the motion triggered decorations set by the front door went off, letting out an ear piercing shriek, but started laughing right after and schemed to scare as many people as they could before the night was up.
The rest of the family followed, each in their Halloween finery. Liam had chosen the ninja costume and hid in dark corners and behind doors, scaring anyone who walked by. Finn had borrowed an outfit from her grandmother, and with her curled hair and makeup done just so, she really did look like a Flower Child of the 70's. Alexis, Max, and their two kids arrive dressed as Supergirl, Superman, Princess Aurora, and a Lion respectively. Of course, everyone fawns over the one-year-old and his fuzzy lion costume for a while, especially after the decoration by the door goes off suddenly and scares him.
Before long, the doorbell begins ringing, and the party starts. Danielle and Saccone succeed in their goal to scare everyone when they come through the door, and Liam gets them when they least expect it the rest of the night.
The kids take over the basement with their friends and, reluctantly, their niece who just wanted to play with the Big Kids. They had their own food and games, and there was talk of Miyana's friend, Corinne, doing fortune telling for all of them.
And upstairs, drinks flowed as easily as conversation out of a smoking punch bowl. Snacks were served off of severed hands and plates held up by gargoyles, and themed music flowed out of the speakers. Rick Castle knew how to throw a party, and even the normally stoic Margret DeCarlo smiled and appeared to be having fun.
Rick and Miyana went in on a costume together, and wowed all their guests when they appeared dressed as Wednesday and Gomez Addams; the all black, the braids, the blank looks, everything. While Kate took a cue from her childhood and dressed as Launchpad McQuack from the cartoon Duck Tales, complete with aviator jacket and goggles.
Later in the night, prizes for the costume contest were handed out. Kate won for best Nostalgia, while the prize for 'goriest' went to LT whose zombie costume was horrid enough to turn even the strongest of stomachs. And the prize for best group costume went to Karpowski and her wife Jacklyn, who dressed as Dorothy, the Wicked Witch of the West and her Little Dog Toto played by their nine-month-old son Julian.
The kids' party ended sooner than expected when Corrine's failed attempt at reading Tarot Cards told a girl in their class she would be dead in the next day. Needless to say, the girl went home crying, and Miyana and her best friend locked themselves in her room, too embarrassed to be seen the rest of the night. The rest of the kids trickled home or joined the adults soon after.
The rest of the night was filled with laughter, food, drink and more than a few drunken fortunes told. And when it ended in the wee hours of the morning, everyone went home happy, and the Castle house had more than a few people spending the night.
Rick closes the door on their last guest, the mess left to be cleaned up in the morning, and jumps, letting out a shriek when the decoration by the door goes off.