A/N: [October 9th 2024]

October 9th 2023

Chapter 282
We Aim to Make Memories

Each year, on their big 'decoration holidays,' they would have new items added to their collection. They had more than enough to cover their bases all the time, sure, but that wasn't what it was about, not all of it anyway. Whatever they picked up in a given year, they would always see to it that everyone chose it together, that they remembered it. When the holiday would be over, they would not remember every last second of that year's Halloween, or Christmas, no, but they would look at this decoration or that one, and they would remember the year they had gotten it, reconnect it to those days and their family as it had been at the time. So now, as they were getting ready to decorate their house for Halloween, they had to get their new piece for the year, and they went, all of them together. The girls were in full agreement, as their parents were with them, that it had to remind them of Ezra, because it was his first time on Hallowannie with them. The almost birthday girl went around the store, hand in hand with her baby brother or carrying him, and in time they came away with their selection, all of them satisfied and eager to get decorating.

"Who's coming?" Marianne eagerly asked her mother as they stood at the checkout line and Maya was typing away at her phone. She had to smile, seeing how her daughter was so beyond excited. "Is Mia coming?"

"Yeah, Mia's coming," Maya confirmed, the rest of the Babineaux family equally confirmed by a nod, and Marianne was joined in on her excitement by her little sisters. "Your uncle Sam and aunt Dora, too, probably aunt Riley and uncle Dylan…" Her phone dinged. "Yeah, they're coming," she smiled, and the cheers, having echoed at each addition, were renewed once again. There were so many people they would have loved to have out there to help them, and having them all in the house at once could have been a lot, but they genuinely would not have minded, would they? As a family, by blood or by friendship, they had always thrived in the madness of numbers. Those four families alone would have the house loud with voices and footsteps, and they could have had many more.

Soon, they were all out there, at the Friar house, ready to get started. The storage was cleared of all its Halloween content and everything was divided up according to where it would go. The kids all wanted to do their own part, which started off easily enough, up in the two rooms shared by the Friar sisters and their year-long guest. Lucas went and helped them along with Sam and Nadine, and it was one of those occasions where all three of them would look at those boys and girls, whether they were their own children or not, and be left to realize how much they were all growing up. There were a few of them that were still smaller, sure, but then they also had several among them who were still children, sure, not so small anymore. Some of them had entered double digits, and it didn't seem real. Not too long ago, it felt, they could still be spooked by a really weird looking pumpkin. Now they would just laugh at it and stare and move on. Now they worked to decorate the two rooms and they couldn't stop talking about what they would be dressed as this year.

Down below, the rest of the parents were having a similar conversation as they did their part, though this inevitably descended into tales of past Halloweens they had spent together over the years. Dylan couldn't get over how much he would have loved to have known his wife and her friends when they'd been kids in New York, would have loved to have spent Halloween with them. He'd heard plenty of stories about it all over time, from Riley herself, of course, but just as much from Maya if not more, and then from Farkle, too, and his in-laws… Dora would share the inevitable tale of the first Halloween she remembered, and how her cousin Lucas had played a big part in making it so that she didn't end up hating the whole holiday after a first spooky experience. Maya was very familiar with the story, of course, and she would lovingly tease her husband for his knight in shining armor moment, every chance she got.

"You know what I'm going to say my favorite Halloween was," Zay declared to his friends as he fished through a box of decorations.

"Was it the one where one of your favorite students was born?" Maya teased with a grin.

"That one's up there for sure," Zay turned to point a finger at her and she nodded humbly. "But the best one is always going to be the haunted house," he affirmed, and on this those of them who'd been there, dressed as vampires and zombies and the like could only nod in agreement and smile. "Yeah, see? You know. You know," he pointed from one to the other, stopping on Dylan. "Still the best zombie run I ever saw."

"Oh, I passed the baton on that one. Wait until you see my little zombies go," Dylan told him, a burst of fatherly pride glowing over him.

It was about that time when the group from upstairs came back down and, hearing this, the Orlando kids were more than happy to display what they had learned directly from their father 'the pro zombie' and perfected across the last few Halloweens. At ten, Nicky had the most years under his belt and it showed, the same going for nine-year-old Emily and seven-year-old Megan, and yet the most uncanny and eerie of the bunch was hands down three-year-old Aimee. She was tiny, but she made it work for her, and the other kids were genuinely unsettled by her, which made their parents laugh. She was a normal, live girl once her father scooped her up though, giggling and hugging her arms around his neck.

Most of the kids there had grown up on the stories about the haunted house Halloween their parents had done. The Friar girls were especially familiar with it as it had led to their parents becoming more than friends, but even for them, it was one of those stories that became family lore, family tradition, and so every time they would bring it out again, it would bring smiles to their faces. They knew all the beats, and not one of them could be missed or the storytellers would be reminded and made to return them where they belonged. Of all the things they all loved about being parents now, this was easily one of their favorites, especially when they got to see the looks on the children's faces as they heard their beloved tales once again. The older they got now, they had to wonder if there would come a time where they didn't want it as much as they used to but, for now, all was as it had always been.

Bit by bit, the Friar house was transformed into its best Hallowannie self. Sure, some parts of it wouldn't come together until later, nearer to the big day itself, and it wouldn't feel like they'd hit the full effect until then, but still. By the time they'd be done for that day, everyone would be very excited for what they had done. The best part, for the sisters especially, was to see how completely mesmerized their baby brother was at the sight of it all. Suddenly his house looked so different, and his curious little feet took him in every direction possible, thankfully with a gaggle of big sisters to keep their eyes on him.

Even if it wasn't for this part, Maya and Lucas would have been beyond happy with what they had accomplished. Over time, it had really come to feel as though the house in this state belonged to all of them, not just the Friars but all their turtle friends, and the junior turtles along with them. And as far as they were concerned, everyone was welcome to it.

"Mom, Dad, we need to talk about the games," Marianne sat up when her parents returned from above, later on, after the triplets had gone off to bed. She and Shonagh would not be far behind, but for now the two girls had been huddled together on the couch, a large pad of paper sitting over their legs and several markers between the pair of them. Maya and Lucas exchanged a look at their daughter's words, finding they were not the only one close to chuckles at her serious tone.

"The Halloween games?" Maya asked, pointing toward the front door. The girls nodded. "What about them?"

"I was telling Shonagh all about them, and I was just thinking that we haven't changed any of it, not for years, and that's not right. We need to move them around, you know? And we need new games. Look," she pointed to the pad, and so they came along to find that the girls had been drawing a map. It showed the perimeter of the house, the road, then the Hart-Lanes' land, formerly the Oswalds', where they had the maze and the extended game area, with the games geared toward the younger kids having been grouped up across the way. Now, Marianne and Shonagh had come up with a brand new set-up.

"Wow, look at that," Lucas smiled. "Is that where the new games go?" he pointed to the two spaces, one on either side of the road, where blank squares had been identified with gold stars. The girls nodded. "And what are these new games going to be?"

"Haven't figured that out yet," Marianne admitted.

"We're working on it, Mr. Friar," Shonagh informed him with a confident nod that was matched by her friend and host.

"Looking forward to hearing about it," Lucas declared, and the girls assured him that it would all be worth it.

The girls continued working on their plans until it was time for them both to get ready for bed, at which point Maya and Lucas could overhear Marianne telling Shonagh about past Hallowannie nights at the house. Shonagh seemed to find the fact that Marianne was born on Halloween and had a whole name for it to be both wonderful and hilarious, and Marianne tended to agree. She was also telling their guest about her stance on ghosts, which had somehow remained unspoken up to that point. Shonagh became that much more of a friend at this point, as it turned out she was on the same page about whether or not ghosts were real.

"Mom, can we have a séance on my birthday, after everyone's gone?" Marianne came speeding back into her parents' room, catching Maya off guard as she was checking in on Ezra.

"Uh, sure, I mean… Are we talking here, or…"

"I don't know, maybe upstairs, under the skylight. I wanted to go to the cemetery or something, but I don't think some of the others would want to go," Marianne reasoned, and Maya had to agree on that one. She knew exactly who those would be and how they'd react to the very idea.

"We can talk it all out in the morning, alright?" she offered, and that was all Marianne needed to hear before she went speeding back to tell Shonagh they were going to have their séance. Maya let out a breath as Lucas rejoined her and she shared 'the news.' He laughed quietly, bowed to kiss the top of her head. It would be a big night, as well it should be.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners