5 Reasons To Love Again

Chapter 95

"Hold still just for another second sweetie. I'm almost done." I told her as I patted a little more makeup on her face. She looked fearsome with green skin and black lips. "Do I look scary enough mommy?" she asked me while trying her best to sit still. "Yes, you do! Ok, you can look in the mirror now." She stood up from the edge of the bed where she had been sitting and raced to the bathroom to pull out a kids step stool which had just magically appeared a week ago.

Lexine smiled happily in the mirror and then immediately started to make scary little girl faces at herself. I stepped into the bathroom to wash my hands at the sink. I watched as she raised her hands to make claw gestures. "Mommy, my hands aren't green! I need green hands!" she told me anxiously. Sighing, I dried my hands and went to get the green makeup. I smeared the back of her hands and wrist with it. "There baby, I can't put any on the bottom of your hands because then everything you touch will be green." She nodded in agreement and jumped over to grab her broom and mini cauldron.

There was a knock on the door and I opened it up. Jake stood there, "Hey pumpkin, are you two ready yet? It's getting dark outside."  I grinned at him and wiggled my green fingers in the air, "Just let me wash my hands first. Our wicked witch is ready to go though." As I washed the green from my hands for the second time,  I heard him exclaim in pretend fright. "Oh my God! Someone let this scary witch in the house! Please don't hurt me!" I heard my girl giggle in delight as she chased him around the room.

Stepping out of the bathroom, I grabbed a cream colored jacket and put the black lipstick in my purse that I had ready to go. Jake had turned the table on Lexine and picked her up. "Let's go ladies! It's already dark outside and I need some sugar!" Jake said with a wink in my direction. He carried her out of the room with me following. Downstairs, the guys were waiting for us by the front door. Their eyes widened when they saw Lexine decked out in full green witch glory. Compliments flew out of their mouths for how wonderfully scary she looked. Each one of them whipped out their cell phones and began taking pictures of her. "We promised Chase some pictures of her all dressed up." Brady told me.

I got compliments on the makeup job as well. "How were you able to that so well?" Preston asked me. "I used to do my own stage makeup for ballet." I replied. He nodded thoughtfully as if filing that information away in his head for later. All of us headed to the family car and piled in with Preston driving and Brady in the front passenger. He tried to get me in there but I dodged him and jumped into the back. Jake and Wyatt laughed at my antics. "Hey Brady, maybe you need a brush up course on catching your target!" Wyatt teased him. Brady playfully pointed his finger at him. "I'll get you later." he threatened.

I rolled my eyes at them and laughed. It didn't take that long to get to Bob's Diner and Preston drove us past that a few blocks until we were in a respectable neighborhood. He pulled up to a house that was decked out with Halloween decorations. Who ever lived here did a good job, the lawn had been turned in a graveyard with headstones. Ten pumpkins were carved and lit on the front porch and there were cobwebs and fake spiders on the walls and railing. I especially liked the eerie little green lights that were everywhere.

"This house belongs to one of Blackbourne's team members." Preston explained to me as we got out of the car. Wyatt grabbed a plastic bag from the back of the car and pulled out a handful of glow in the dark necklaces. Jake took one and cracked it to get it started and fastened it around my neck. It warmed up to a green glow. Everyone including Lexine wore one. "It's just a safety precaution for when we cross streets. People don't always pay as much attention as they should when they drive." Brady explained to Lexine. She nodded and looked pleased with it since it matched her costume.

We started with the decorated house that we were parked in front of. Preston and I walked Lexine up to the front door while the others waited on the sidewalk. She rang the doorbell and waited. The door opened up to a stern face with grey eyes and glasses. It was Owen Blackbourne! His eyes registered me and Preston before lowering to see Lexine  her clutching her broom with one hand and with her Calderon held out with the other. His expression softened to see her. An actual smile graced his face and surprised me. His features looked so different, and I realized how handsome he was. Owen crouched down to her level and held up a bowl full of candy. "You can pick 5 pieces of candy." he told her gently and I took her broom so that she could.  Lexine nodded and picked out her favorites.