"Okay, she's ready."
Willow's and a few other heads turn in anticipation at the call from the kitchen.
Her daughter had been uncharacteristically quiet about her choice of Halloween outfit this year.
"She's four, Will, time for the kid to have some secrets." Dawn had teased before being called into the living room to settle an argument over which would be first up in the night's list movies for those not heading out to chaperone 'Trick or Treat'.
"Oh no. One night as a walking Rambo was enough thanks. I'll stay here with these nice bags and bags of tasty candy and the Great Pumpkin on repeat." Xander reminds earning several rounds of eye-rolling from the others scattered around the Summer's living room.
"Oh, come on Xandman it can't have been that bad." Faith scoffed, tossing a few more mini peanut butter cups into her mouth as she lounged against the other side of the sofa. Then her jaw drops with a hummed "Well look at that. Seems our little Wicca is really planning on scarring up heaps of candy."
Willow once again looks towards the kitchen only to pause her eyes wide at what she saw.
Really it was only the glaring mismatch of the child's size and the golden blonde of her pig-tailed hair that dulls a little of the fear the Wicca woman feels.
"Is it good Mama?" her daughter asks nervously at her mother's shocked quiet at her choice of costume.
"Sweetie remember what your Uncle Giles said. The Gentlemen aren't meant to talk." Tara says following behind her four-year-old daughter.
Gaia spins around on her mismatched blaze orange and neon green Chuck Taylor shoes grinning wide at her watching mother. "I must be a good Spookyman huh Mommy? I took away Mama's voice." The younger girl beams pointing over her shoulder at the stunned red-haired Wicca.
Tara giggles as she bends to scoop up their small suite clade daughter. "So scary." She praises pressing a kiss to her daughter's hair. "She wanted it and given how often we've told her the story of how we first met is it really surprising this is what she picked?" Tara asks in a low whisper when her wife's side gaze finds hers.
At this Willow has to laugh. "So scary I might even be so scared I might need help shifting the mini soda machine later. Keep her out of our room for the night."
Tara's smile widened at the offering. "I don't think that was what Xander had in mind we used that for when he gifted it to us but I'm not complaining." She hummed her hand slipping into Willow's as she leaned in enough to brush her lips to her wife's in a promising start of a kiss.
"Okay, let's go." Anya huffs putting a slight dampener on the mood as she stomped into the hall dressed in her nearly traditional 'terrifying' bunny outfit acting as the child's other chaperone.
"You know you didn't have to dress up too, right?" Faith asks from the sofa eyeing the fluffy dressed woman with an amused smirk as she reaches for her phone only for Buffy to push her hand back into the candy bowl resting against her lap instead with a disapproving shake of her head.
"Auntie Anie, bunnies aren't scary." The child giggles, reaching over to run her fingers through the fake fur of Anya's rabbit ears. "So soft." She sighed petting the fake rabbit's ear again.
"They most certainly are." Anya argues and would have looked to Xander for support only to find her husband engaged in a low-voiced argument with the youngest Summers girl over the TV remote.
"Nuha. They take you to Wonderland." Gaia laughs from the held place in her mother's arms.
Anya rolls her eyes "Again with the Wonderland stuff." She huffs folding her fur-covered arms over her front.
"You're the one who let her watch that movie." Buffy reminds from the living room. "Not our fault this is the result."
"and now I think its time to go." Tara steps in already seeing the burning need to argue building in Anya's eyes. "Come on oh so scary bunny, it's candy time." The Wicca prods shepherding the two towards the exit.
"CANDY!" Gaia cheered charging gleefully towards the door.
"Don't worry kiddo I'm here to make sure you get all the candies." Anya promises in her most serious of voices as the door swings closed behind them.
Tara sighs giving the following former demon a long stair as they step off the front porch. "You're not teaching my daughter how to hustle for candy."
"Says the mother not even bothering to dress up for this thing." Anya fires back "and come on Tara you know this is the perfect setting to…"
"Again, I remind you that you didn't really have to dress up for this. only the kids." Tara reminds nodding up the walk to a few wondering parents also acting as chaperones.
"Come on Glinda get into the spirit of the thing."
"Uncle Spiky." Gaia cheered when another shadowed corner of the Summer's front step began to move and shift in the light of the glowing porch light.
"Hello, little witch." The vampire greets kneeling more to the child's level for a greeting-tackled hug.
"You no dressed up either." The child pouts still hugging the vampire's neck.
Spike glances up meeting Tara's gaze as he takes sigh of a breath asking silent permission under the child's pitiful expression. The Wicca nodes in acceptance.
"Close your eyes, witchlit."
The child obeys now vibrating in excitement.
"Alright." Spike says after a few seconds as he shifts his face into the true mask of his vampiric self.
The trio on the front step as well as the ones Tara catches watching from the front window hold a collective breath as Giai slowly opens her eyes.
At first, the child didn't say anything, only staring at the vampire's true face in silent interest before she smiled wide looking from Spike to Anya and back before looking in pride towards her watching mother.
"We gonna get sooo much candy."