Why Does Right and Wrong Seem So Far Away? An Anne and Richard Halloween Tale

Trick or Treat?

SORRY THIS IS KIND OF LONG. I GOT CARRIED AWAY. THEY ARE TOO CUTE. BY THE WAY, LOOK AT THE AWESOME PHOTO SET ON TUMBLR http://tant-le-desiree.tumblr.com/post/65633123438/modern-halloween-au-anne-decides-she-will-be

October 2013

It was Halloween night. Anne had everything arranged but Richard hadn’t let her do it all alone. He had helped her with everything and now it was the big night.

First of all, they were having a little party for the children and then after that, they would take the children Trick or Treating. When they had put the children to bed, Richard and Anne’s friends and family would visit and dance to some music and have fun. Although Anne was concerned that the children wouldn’t be able to sleep if there was a lot of noise, Richard had convinced her that she needed to have some Halloween fun also.

So at around four thirty, Anne rounded up the children and helped them all to get dressed up. Kate was the eldest of the children - she and Johnny were Richard’s children from a previous relationship. (IN THE FAN FICTION MODERN AU I HAVE CHANGED THE AGES OF THE CHILDREN TO SUIT THE STORY.) Kate was eight years old and Johnny was seven. Little Edward had been born a few months after Anne and Richard had married, and he was now six. At first, Anne had always worried that Kate and Johnny would feel less loved by her and Richard or that Edward would feel left out. But luckily, the children were all good friends, despite the occasional tiffs that all small children had with each other.

Katherine had chosen to dress as a witch, in a cute little purple and black dress and tall hat with cobwebs dangling from it. Johnny had chosen to dress as Batman and looked positively adorable in his little costume. And Anne’s dear little Edward had dressed as a Wizard. His cloak, robes and hat were of deep purples and blues - almost as rich as a prince’s. After helping them all on with their costumes, she told them all to find their pumpkin buckets and hurried into her room to prepare.

In the hallway, she bumped into Richard who looked completely awesome and gorgeous in his costume. He was covered from head to toe in white powder but was dressed completely in black. His eyes were covered in dark eye makeup, his hair was brushed messily over one eye and he had scarily realistic looking vampire fangs, dripping with fake blood. How was it that he could look so deadly and so handsome at the same time? Anne bit her lip.

“You look great,” she mumbled. He smirked at her and wandered into the kids’ rooms to help them find what they needed.

Anne, of course, didn’t choose a stereotypical costume. She had chosen something quite different. For some reason, the idea had just meandered into her head in the middle of summer and stuck there stubbornly until the autumn. She was dressing as a medieval Queen. Not any in particular, but she had the idea that it was around the time of the infamous Wars of the Roses.

But Anne decided that it would take far too long to get dressed up now - she would do it later. All of the children’s friends were arriving and Richard was welcoming them. She heard some laughs, some screams from little children and loud footsteps as Johnny and Kate ran down the stairs. Anne came out onto the landing and saw little Edward hanging back from the others and waiting for her. She gathered him up in her arms and kissed his cheek.

“Sweetie, what’s wrong?” she asked comfortingly.

“Nothing, I just feel tired mummy,” he muttered. She carried him downstairs and greeted their guests. She felt a little awkward at first, but thought of her proud father and bore through it. Many trick or treaters came to the door, and Richard and her would take it in turns to answer.

After a while, Isabel and her children arrived. She hugged her sister more closely than she had ever done before; some strange feeling inside her told her to. Why? She couldn’t fathom it. But she loved her so dearly.