Notes: Thanks to Mari and Sammy for being their always awesome selves. You're the best, ladies!

Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support! It is always appreciated.

Hope you enjoy!

Operation Halloween Party (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)

Chapter One

"How's the menu for the Tutor Time Halloween Party coming, honey?" Jenna asked. Based on what she could see on the computer screen over Kaitlyn's shoulder, she knew her daughter was still researching ideas and recipes.

"Argh! There are so many cute things!" Kaitlyn replied. "Every time I think I'm done, I see something else that's perfect. Look at these mummy cookies!" She pointed to the screen.

"Ohh, those are cute," Jenna agreed. She glanced over at the notepad where Kaitlyn had been making notes, a habit she'd picked up from Catherine and Elizabeth. "Um, Kaitlyn, is this your list …?"

Kaitlyn winced. "Do you think it's too many?"

"It … might be a few too many. Didn't Elizabeth give you a budget?"

"Yeah, $250 dollars."

"Then it's definitely too many."

"Ahh!" she groaned, leaning back in her seat. "I know! I just can't narrow it down. I want to do a really good job because Aunt Elizabeth is counting on me. And I want to make sure it's stuff the kids will think is fun and Halloween-y." Midnight jumped up onto the table and Kaitlyn ran a hand over his back.

Jenna smiled. "Well, it just so happens you know a couple of kids who will be there. Why don't you see what DJ and Angie think? Maybe they can help you narrow it down."

"Oh!" Kaitlyn said, straightening. "That's actually a great idea!"

Jenna chuckled. "I've been known to have them every once in a while."

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes good-naturedly, grinning. "Every once in a while." She pulled out her phone. "I'll text Aunt Catherine."

The next afternoon, Catherine answered the door to a smiling Kaitlyn.

"Hi, Aunt Catherine! Thanks again for letting me come over."

"Of course, honey. The kids are very excited to help you plan the party snacks."

"Hi, Cammie," Kaitlyn said, nuzzling the dog's neck in welcome. "And there's Luna." She smiled as the black cat rubbed against her leg. Kaitlyn was a well known and loved human from all her time volunteering at the shelter. "I'm so glad you have such a wonderful foster home, sweetie," she said, kneeling to rub her around the ears. "Is it still a foster home?" she asked Catherine in faux-innocence.

"Don't you start, too," Catherine said with a sigh, fighting a smile.

They heard a mewl behind them and looked over to see Pumpkin on the stairs.

Kaitlyn laughed. "I didn't forget you, Pumpkin," she said, standing and going over to scratch her under the chin in greeting. "Sweet girl."

Catherine chuckled. "Well, now that you've greeted the animal children, let's go round up the human ones."

They went out back where DJ and Angie were running off some energy. Both immediately ran toward the deck as soon as they spotted Kaitlyn.

"Kaitlyn! Did you bring the Halloween desserts?" Angie asked, her cheeks bright with the exercise and excitement.

"Well, I brought pictures of them," Kaitlyn said, holding up her bag. "I couldn't make all of the recipes, even though that would have been a delicious way to choose. Are you ready to look? I think it's gonna be hard to choose."

"We're very very ready!" Angie said, and looked at her brother who nodded his agreement.

"Let's sit at the dining room table so the papers don't blow away in the wind," he suggested.

"Good idea," Catherine said, and held the door open for everyone to troop back inside. As the kids settled at the table with Kaitlyn, she said, "Well, I'll leave you all to your very important job. I'll be upstairs putting laundry away. Holler if you need me."

"Thanks, Mommy!"

"Thanks, Aunt Catherine!"

As she disappeared upstairs, Kaitlyn pulled a folder out of her bag. "So here's all of the ideas I have." She opened the folder and pulled out two stacks of paper, one from each side.

DJ's eyes widened at the pile. "That's a lot of ideas."

"I know. It's way too many. That's why I need you guys to help me narrow it down."

Angie nodded seriously. "We can help. We're very very good at picking desserts."

Kaitlyn chuckled. "I know you are."

"Are you going to make cupcakes for the party?" DJ asked.

"Definitely. That's kinda my speciality so I pretty much have to, right?"

Both kids nodded.

"That's actually where we're starting," Kaitlyn continued. "Cupcakes. Here's the first one I found. Marshmallow Ghost Cupcakes."

"Ooh," the kids said, looking at the picture.

"Marshmallows are so yummy," Angie said.

Kaitlyn grinned. "I think so, too. So it's a chocolate cupcake with a marshmallow buttercream for the frosting. I thought I could put some marshmallow creme inside the cupcake, too, for a little oozy, yummy surprise."

"What do you make the eyes and mouth out of?" DJ asked, pointing to the picture.

"They used special cake decorations, but I thought I could just use chocolate chips and mini chocolate chips and put them in backwards so the flat side shows."

"You should definitely make those," Angie said with a definitive nod.
"Okay, but … look at these floating ghost cupcakes," Kaitlyn said, showing them the next print out. "Aren't they adorable?"

Angie gasped. "It looks like real ghosts on top!"

"It does!" DJ agreed. "How'd they do that?"

"It's called fondant. It's basically powdered sugar mixed with some things to make it sturdy so you can shape it. Do you want to know how it stays up on the cupcake like a ghost?"

"How?"

"There's a sucker under there! So you put the white fondant over the sucker and put the stick into the cupcake. Voila! Instant ghost!"

"Voila!" Angie echoed. "You should definitely make those, too."

Kaitlyn laughed. "You're supposed to be helping me narrow it down!"

"You probably don't need two ghost cupcakes, right?" DJ asked, though his face clearly said he wouldn't mind.

Kaitlyn sighed. "No. We should really pick one ghost cupcake. If we even pick a ghost cupcake. I have, like, four other cupcake recipes that aren't ghosts."

"Four?" Angie repeated.

"Yeah, see? There's a jack o'lantern one, and a skeleton one, and look at this cool one. It looks like a witch's cauldron bubbling over!"

"Whoa!" DJ said.

"What's a cauldron?" Angie asked.

"It's that big black pot witches use to mix their potions," DJ told her.

"See how they used green frosting and sprinkles to make it look like the potion is overflowing?" Kaitlyn said.

"And a pretzel for the stirrer!" DJ said. "That's really cool."

"You should definitely make those," Angie said.

Kaitlyn sat back in her chair, laughing. "This is going to be even harder than I thought."

"How's it going in here?" Catherine asked, coming into the dining room to find the table completely covered in recipe print outs. "Oh wow, you really did have a lot of ideas."

Kaitlyn giggled. "Yeah, but we finally figured out a system. Do you want to explain, DJ?"

"Yeah," he said, and held up a notepad he'd retrieved to help them make their decisions. "We made a list of the different types of desserts there should be, like cupcakes, cookies, and healthy snacks."

"Okay, gotcha," Catherine said.

"Then we made a list of the Halloween things there should be," DJ continued.

Angie nodded. "Like ghosts, witches, pumpkins, skeletons, and spiders."

"Right," DJ said. "Then we started matching up recipes so there is at least one of each Halloween thing and at least one of each dessert."

"Well, two cupcakes," Angie corrected.

DJ grinned. "Yeah, two cupcakes."

Kaitlyn shrugged. "I can't help it, that's my specialty."

Catherine smiled and nodded. "Understandable. So have you narrowed down the list?"

Kaitlyn looked between her two assistants. "We finally did, I think. Go ahead, DJ."

"Okay, for cupcakes we have the floating ghost cupcakes and the witch's cauldron cupcakes," he said. Angie searched for the papers on the table and grabbed them to show Catherine.

"Ooh, very neat."

"It's a sucker under the ghost!" Angie told her.

"Really? That's quite ingenious." She handed the papers back. "Okay, that's cupcakes. What else?"

"Then we have spider cookies," DJ went on.

"They're kind of like the Hershey Kiss thumbprint cookies," Kaitlyn explained. "But I'm going to press the kiss down to make it more rounded so I can decorate it like a spider. And Aunt Elizabeth told me that no one has a peanut allergy so they are safe to make."

Catherine nodded. "Those are probably the cutest spiders I've ever seen."

"And the yummiest," DJ said with a grin.

Angie grew thoughtful. "Has Daddy ever eaten a spider?"

Catherine snorted. "You'll have to ask him when he gets home, baby girl." She nodded to the list. "What else did you decide on?"

"Skeleton pretzels," DJ said.

"These are pretzels dipped in yogurt for the bones, arranged on a white stick, and then a marshmallow head," Kaitlyn explained as Angie found the picture.

"Very cool."

"And a bit healthier, too," Kaitlyn said. "Aunt Elizabeth wanted to have some healthy snacks as well."

Catherine nodded. "Good idea."

"For our healthy snacks we also have cheese and pretzel broomsticks," DJ said.

"It's string cheese!" Angie told her, waving the picture. "You pull it at the bottom to look like a broom and put it on a pretzel stick."

"Awesome!" Catherine said. "I love that."

"And we also have a pumpkin veggie tray," DJ said. "But that's really easy, right, Kaitlyn?"

"Right. Just baby carrots on a tray with celery for the stalk."

"Perfect," Catherine said.

"Carrot sticks are yummy and crunchy," Angie said.

"And because that's probably not going to look like a pumpkin for long, we also picked the pumpkin Rice Krispie treats because those will be easy, too. Just color the marshmallow mixture orange before you mix in the cereal and make them into pumpkin shapes."

Catherine nodded. "What about the stem and leaf?" she asked, looking at the picture Angie had handed her.

"The stem is a Tootsie Roll and the leaf is part of a Fruit Roll-Up," Kaitlyn said.

"Clever," Catherine said. "Well, I think you all picked some really fantastic treats. I know the kids at Tutor Time are going to be so excited to see everything … and especially to eat everything."

Kaitlyn beamed. "Thanks! I know it still sounds like a lot, but Esther and her sister are going to help with the baking, so we'll get everything done no problem."

"It does sound like a lot, but I know you're very organized in the kitchen."

Kaitlyn nodded. "Well, I never could've narrowed down my list without these two helpers and the great system they came up with." Both kids beamed with pride. "I think we really have this Halloween party covered. At least the food part."

"How's Jacob coming with the activities?" Catherine asked.

Kaitlyn winced. "Still brainstorming. I think he might be having the same problem I had. Too many great ideas."

"Hey!" DJ said. "We could help him decide."

"Yeah! We're really good helpers," Angie added.

"You definitely are," Kaitlyn said. "I'll tell him. I'm sure he'd appreciate the help." She took out her phone and sent a quick text to her brother. His reply came quickly and with multiple exclamation points. "He'd love the help!" Kaitlyn told them.

Catherine smiled at the kids. "Looks like you have your next assignment."

Angie and DJ exchanged a look and grinned. "Operation Halloween Party!"

Hope you enjoyed! Check out our Tumblr page for links and photos of the treats! (mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com)

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