Flames

Roux Crew, part 1

"Happy Halloween, Roux Crew!" Bayley's face filled the screen for a moment before her cat Kyro nudged her out of the way. "From Kyro too, obviously. You know how much he loves his Roux."

"I love him too!" Roux waved with both hands at the screen. "Hi, Auntie Bayley!"

"I think you meant Favourite Auntie Bayley," Bayley replied, scooping up her cat and settling him on her lap so she could see the videochat screen. "And you're the cutest pumpkin ever, Roux! I love your costume!"

Becky smiled as her daughter hopped to her feet and spun around to show her auntie her whole costume. "Seth is... struggling with his at the moment. Joshy had to give him a hand."

"What about you, Becks? When are you putting on your costume?" Bayley grinned. "I mean, we all know you're a witch already. Don't you read the internet?"

Becky adjusted her tall witch's hat and sat up straighter. "You're the one who cackles, not me."

"Damn right I do!" Bayley proceeded to give a hearty cackle which made her cat peer up at her and Roux giggle with delight. "I wish I could have been there. We could have been witches together."

"Hey, Becks?" Joshy stepped back into the living room. "Almost ready."

"Great. Almost time for the grand unveiling, Bayley. Then I'll have to take some pictures to show to my family." Becky scooted down the couch a bit and patted the spot on her right. "Come here, Roux. We need to make room for Dada."

Roux clapped excitedly. "I love Halloween!"

"Wrestling is kind of like Halloween," Bayley said. "We get to dress up all the time."

Joshy, their trainer, and his girlfriend Jen stepped into the room, dressed as vampires. "Okay, Roux. Time to close your eyes so Dada can surprise you!"

"What? There's Halloween surprises now?" Bayley asked, craning her neck as if it would help her see further than Becky's tablet camera allowed. "Hey, Seth—wait. What? Joshy? What's with the hair?"

Joshy laughed as he sat on the sofa arm. "Seth's pretty vampire-like, you know, so I'm channelling my inner Visionary vampire."

"So does that mean Seth's wearing a bald cap and dressed up like a physical trainer?" Bayley asked.

Roux started kicking her feet impatiently. "Mama, wanna see!"

"Hang on, sweet girl. Dada's coming." Becky almost felt like finding the Jurassic Park theme and playing it, but Roux was too young to get the reference yet. Then she raised her voice. "Do you need any help, love?"

"No," Seth called back, voice muffled by his costume. "Joshy left the door open, so I'm good." He entered the room with big stomping steps, but the effect was slightly lessened by the sound of swishing plastic each time he moved.

Becky crowed with delight. She and Seth had both decided to let Roux pick their costumes that year, and when Roux had asked her to dress as a witch, she was initially worried that she had done something to make her daughter upset. Then Roux pointed to a witch character in one of her favourite books and talked about how pretty she was. Seth, on the other hand, got a request to be a dinosaur, which made Becky immediately think of the inflatable suits she had seen online. He insisted they wouldn't be able to find one that would fit him, but Joshy helped Becky search until they did. Now she just hoped that Roux loved it as much as she did. "Okay, Roux. Open your eyes!"

"DADASAUR!" Roux was so excited she nearly fell off the couch, and Becky spotted her as she scrambled to her feet and ran over to Seth.

"Dadasaur? Is Seth a dinosaur or something?" Bayley asked. "I want to see!"