July 21st 2023

Chapter 202
We Light the Streets

There was a fine line that presented itself whenever his daughters would be faced with a 'difficult decision.' Suddenly they would be presented with two choices, both of them as appealing as they could get to a pack of young girls like them, and then they'd get stuck… and as much as they wouldn't dream of laughing at them for it, neither Lucas nor Maya could hide the fact that the indecision was very, very funny. Now, on this day, there was another big decision to make, and they had made it, but that didn't make it so that they'd suddenly forgotten what they were giving up for it. They were going to go trick or treating, but that also meant that they wouldn't get to play all the games and do all the things they usually did every Halloween back at their house.

The moods started to change though, as they drove out from home, as they connected with friends and were able to begin their round of candy collecting. Lucas could have reminded them that, because it was their house, they could all play the games tomorrow if they didn't get their fill of it that night, but he let them focus on what was beginning now.

The first house they went to, the great pack of kids together, was intentionally familiar. It wasn't as though they expected to run into disappointment, far from it, but it did feel as though they would all have a much better night if it started on a high note. The fact that they would make the owner of that house just as happy went a long way, too: they went to Carson's door. It wasn't even as though it was the first time that some of them had been to his house, the Friars especially, as he had them over to dinner at least once a month, but with Halloween, and everything else that was peculiar about this one visit… When they saw him standing there with his candy bowl, their eyes lit up like they'd stepped into a bonus story time on what was supposed to be group day. Never to let his audience down, Carson did share a brief anecdote before the kids would go on their way, and Lucas imagined him doing the same all through the evening. For his sake as much as the kids', he really hoped that he would.

Their next house was not anyone they knew, and there was no story, but there was an elaborate bit of decoration outside, great figures that stood on either side of them as they approached the steps. Some of the kids, Marianne especially, were absolutely fascinated, entranced at what they saw, while others, like all of the triplets, to his surprise, hurried back to Lucas so they might stand by him and not be so scared. It was a wonder that they didn't flat out ask to leave, but that could still happen. If this was the lawn, it was any wonder what the people would look like… But in the end, they looked so normal that this was possibly the most unsettling thing they could have done. Marianne and some of the others raved on and on about how great the house was while they received their candy, but then others, like the triplets, remained mute as they held up their bags, none of them able to blink or look away, in case something happened where they needed to see it and run at once.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Lucas asked the girls as they moved along. He had Kacey by one hand and Lucy by the other. Remy had wanted to climb on to his back, cape style, but his injury had a way of flaring up every once in a while, and his back was just not able to support her that day. He was well aware that his work back at the house earlier had most certainly landed him here, but this at least had to be worth it. Thankfully, Remy had her uncle Wyatt to 'cape up' with, as he rolled the stroller with Finn dozed off in his costume.

"It was amazing," Marianne declared with a grin. "Wasn't it?" she asked the triplets, who all looked at her with eyes like they wondered if their big sister had been to the same place they had. They weren't nearly as spooked as they'd been not too long ago, but they were still determined to cling to their belief that this place had been absolutely terrifying. They would probably forget it before long… Hopefully they wouldn't have too many nightmares that night.

They were definitely aided in clearing their minds by a series of perfectly normal homes after this. A young couple here, an old woman there, and everything in between. Their candy bags were filling up nicely, which helped, too. Lucas had to keep a close eye on Mackenzie in particular, as she was most prone to peeking inside with curious, hungry eyes. If he didn't remind her to wait until they got home, he was sure she would empty out half of it and more without breaking a sweat. And if she got into it, then Aubrey would start and do it, too, and she was much more of a lightweight than she realized. He did not want to have a couple of puking little girls to deal with.

Thankfully, they came to a home that drew their focus away from the candy in their bags in favor of taking in the display before them. They had all grown up being very at ease with the spooky aesthetic – some more than others – and while some of it could still be too much for their young minds, other things fell right where they needed to be to fill their eyes and their minds with wonder. This house did that, across the board, and Lucas made sure to get as many pictures as he could to send to Maya, showing the house itself as much as their girls taking it all in. He sent her a few as they carried on their way, thinking how she would wish to know how everything was going. He had pictures of their adventure at the scary house, too, but he'd save those for a bit of sympathetic laughter later on when the night was over, or maybe in the morning, as they celebrated another spookversary…

"Uncle Lucas!" a voice made him look up from his phone, and he smiled as he saw who had called out to him. Giulia Choi, at eleven, absolutely looked like both of her biological parents. She carried a lot of Ray in her, but there was also this sprinkling of Chiara over her that was undeniable. It still blew his mind that he and his friends now had children who were drawing awfully close to middle school, if they hadn't already made it there, like Ada Marie Minkus who'd started the seventh grade this year.

"Hey, guys, how's it going with your run?" Lucas asked the girl and her siblings as they caught up to one another. They'd all been at the house for Marianne's dinner, but once they'd moved into trick or treating mode, it had been decided that they would do better splitting up the massive group, so Giulia and her parents and siblings had gone on their own, accompanied by Rosa and Jenna.

"Did you see the house back there? With the…" Marianne cut in, approaching Giulia and Jae, knowing the two of them would be most likely to have flipped out like she'd done if they had seen the 'scary house.'

"The one with the…" Jae mimed as wide as his seven-year-old arms would allow him.

"Yeah, that one!" Marianne beamed at his recognition, even as Giulia leaned in to whisper, nodding her head toward Connor, standing by Sophie. As much as he could enjoy being out with his family and dressing up, the nine-year-old wasn't nearly into Halloween as he used to be, or at least he wasn't this year. Maybe by next year he'd come around to it. If he didn't, well, that'd be okay, too. More than anything, he looked like he wanted to be there so he could share the experience with his siblings, especially Allie and Santi, and his baby sister Violet.

The two groups stayed together a while before splitting up again, as the Garcia-Choi/Zvolensky-Mantovani family started in the direction of home and the Friars and their friends did the same. Soon, Lucas and Wyatt and the kids were on their own, deciding where they would go for their last few homes before making for home, too, the better to play the games for as long as they could before changing out of costumes and going to bed. As sad as they might have been for seeing some of their people leave, they did love this, too, just the nine of them together. Finneas had been dozing off and waking up again all through their trip through the streets, and he was awake again now, so they were going to make the most of this final sprint, him and his cousins together. Sure, he was barely a year old at this point and wasn't getting any candy, but he was part of the family and they wanted him there, and it was always so funny to the girls whenever he would see something and react with all of his sixteen-month-old perspective.

His cousins, his uncle, and his father most of all, they wanted to find the places that would draw his attention the most, and they found a very good one, so much that they stayed longer than planned, and it became their final stop of the night. It turned out, very unexpectedly, to be the home of Aubrey's ballet teacher, Midori Yasuda. The three-year-old didn't immediately recognize her, not until she spoke to her and Aubrey recognized her voice, but once she did, she was elated. They happily explored everything they had done to the outside of the house and were invited to follow inside and see more. It was just her and her daughter, Hazel, and this was something they shared together, every year.

Hazel, because her mother's young student had told her all about it, was actually back at the Friar house, so when Lucas told the girls that it was time to head back, they looked forward to it. They would get to play the games, they would be back with their mother, and they would get to find Hazel and tell her how great her house was.

"They're going to be asleep before we get there, aren't they?" Marianne asked her father as she looked into the back of the minivan. She'd wanted to sit up front with him, and of course she would on this day. Lucas checked the rearview mirror with a smile.

"Looks like they're getting there," he agreed. "Should we turn the music up or let them go?" Marianne considered the options. They did have school tomorrow, but also they were kids, and it was Halloween. Not just that, it was Hallowannie, and as the queen of the day, she was very tempted to rally her sisters for one more round.

"The games will still be there tomorrow, yeah?" she looked to him, and he chuckled quietly.

"Yeah, they will," he promised, which settled the matter. If they fell asleep, they wouldn't be awakened. Who knew, maybe they'd come back around once they arrived, but for now they were left to what would come naturally. "Did you have a good day?" Lucas asked his birthday girl. He knew the answer, it was written all over her face, but he wanted to hear it from her anyway.

"It's not over yet, Dad," she pointed out with a shake of the head, and he laughed again.

"Oh, because you're older now, huh?" he asked, and she held up ten fingers for show. "Trust me, I'm not forgetting how old you are anytime soon, pumpkin."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners