Seasons Of Love

This is Halloween

So much had changed since Autumn started working at the nursery. Just two years ago she sat at this same vanity table, deciding whether or not she even wanted to attend the staff Halloween party. She was so close to not leaving her house at all that night, but a voice in the back of her mind told her she couldn't miss it. Her only plan was to use the night to get on the staff's good side, to prove to them that she had changed and would be there to support them no matter what. Little did she know that going out would change the direction of her whole life.

Now, staff parties were something she actually looked forward to. The nursery staff was truly her family; they were the first people she wanted to tell good news to and they were the people who supported her through the hard times. She had never wanted to work in her father's nurseries. She spent her entire young life trying to distance herself from the Knight name and Roger's legacy. But now, the Knight name didn't bring up memories of her father and the hell he put her through. Now it conjured images of the place and the people she loved most. She would never forgive her father, but she had to admit he did one good thing for her. He hired her at the nursery. The place where she found her chosen family, where she found the love of her life, where she realized that she did deserve to be happy.

As she was putting the finishing touches on her intricate rag doll makeup, she heard the door behind her open. Winter came through the door, a huge smile on his face as he posed for Autumn. He was wearing a pinstripe suit and ghostly white makeup on his face. Dark black circles surrounded his eyes and black paint slash marks ran through his lips making him look like a perfect skeleton. The way he was proudly holding Rose out in front of him, as if she was the most important award he had ever won and was eager to show off, was enough to make her heart melt.

"What do you think, my love?"

Autumn made her way over to her loves, strategically placing a kiss on Winter's lips to avoid messing up their makeup looks. She took Rose in her arms, holding her up to admire her bright white onesie that was paired with a crocheted hat with floppy ears and a small orange pumpkin on the tip of its nose. A collar was printed around the neck of the outfit that read "Zero." The little girl let out a giggle as her mother pulled her into her chest. Autumn couldn't help but return the bright smile that her daughter was giving her as she thought about just how happy she was, how she was going to spend the evening with the love of her life and the little girl she always dreamed of having. She grabbed Winter's arm and led him to the full length mirror in the corner of the room so that they could take in the sight of their little family all decked out for the night.

"My sweet, I think these may be our best costumes yet."

Autumn and Winter took costumes very seriously, often planning their outfits up to a year in advance. When they found out they were expecting, they immediately started planning their first family costume. They quickly filled page after page Autumn's diary with ideas. Both of them had dreamed for years about having a family to plan a group costume for, they couldn't help but get carried away.Narrowing down the list was nearly impossible; every time they eliminated an idea, they came up with a new one to take its place. After months of discussion they finally got the list down to two ideas, deciding that the horror movie focused ideas could wait until Rose was a little older and other ideas would really work better if they ever decided to add to their family. The couple went back and forth for days before just deciding to use both ideas. They had two events they needed costumes for, why not have a different costume for both.

The Nightmare Before Christmas costumes were the very first idea on their list. Autumn and Winter had already been considering Jack and Sally as a couple's costume and it wouldn't be hard to add their daughter to that plan. The movie had always been incredibly important to them, even before they got together. They were both five years old when it came out, and given their shared appreciation for all things Halloween it became an instant favorite. Winter's parents loved talking about how he would run around the house singing "What's This!" at the top of his lungs. Not the song...just those two words. Autumn watched it so many times when she was young that her family had to keep replacing the tape. It was the only thing she could ever remember her father not complaining about buying for her because the second he put the movie on she was out of his hair. Autumn would spend hours watching the movie, rewinding it the second it was over to watch it again, completely entranced by the gothic images on the screen.