Their Things | one shots

4. The Pumpkin - LY

@spiritualray  said:

...also like to see more of Grayson and Claire, please. I don't care if it's smut, AU, or them further in the future with kids of their own.

Rating: Non-mature

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Pumpkin carving was one of the yearly traditions that Americans did every Halloween. This was something that Grayson had found out after half a year of marriage with Claire.

Before meeting him, Claire would have prepared two pumpkins to represent her and Wyatt. One pumpkin would be larger than the other with faces designed by Wyatt but just last year, Grayson had joined them for their annual tradition and got his hands dirty scooping out pumpkin guts.

The feeling that welled up in him wasn't the first time that Grayson felt like he was part of a family while being domesticated and all but nonetheless, it hit him like a truck especially with Wyatt and Claire beside him.

Scooping out the guts of a pumpkin reminded Grayson of the one time he smashed someone's skull with the legs of a chair.

But that particular unseemly memory did nothing to haunt this special tradition with his family. Instead, this pumpkin carving thing was helping him replace the horrors of his past with something new - something cleaner and better.

It also turned out that Claire was extremely holiday oriented, going full out on every holiday she celebrated. God, he had gotten a shock when he entered the house in December. It was like stepping foot into Santa's toy factory.

But Grayson loved her all the more for it.

And of course, Halloween was no different.

The moment he stepped into the house, he was met with the sight of bowls of candy littered about the house and frankly, Grayson wondered how was Claire stopping Wyatt from eating all the candy?

When they had gotten married, he and Claire agreed to get a new house while they sold their individual ones to make it more family friendly. His home or 'bachelor pad' as Mel called it wasn't fit for a child under ten while Claire's home was far from her new job at a publishing house where she decided to write part time and become an editor instead.

Grayson dropped his bag and keys onto the side table, already smelling the scent of pumpkins despite the kitchen being the furthest from the door.

As he walked down the hallway, he couldn't help but smile as he caught sight of the many framed photos of his family. There was one consisting of his wedding picture with Claire, another one with Wyatt and many more when Wyatt was a baby. There were even photos of the park where he had first met them.

Claire was the sentimental sort but so was he (not that he would admit it out loud to anyone - not even to her).

Entering the kitchen, he spotted his beloved wife surrounded by pumpkin guts while carving a smiley face onto a larger pumpkin.

"You're home!"

Grayson gave a light peck on her forehead as Claire beamed up at him sunnily. Her clothes streaked with pumpkin gut and her hair in a messy bun but to Grayson, she never looked lovelier than she did now.

"Pumpkin carving?" he asked dryly and Claire nodded before gesturing to another large pumpkin on the ground. "That one is yours. Have you drawn a face for it?"

He nodded, the corner of his mouth lifting up in a smile as Claire continued. "I've done Wyatt's pumpkin, you should see the face that he drew for it. I can't tell if it's a happy face or a constipated one."