Love Thy Neighbor

Chapter 42

It's Halloween. And my 26th birthday.

Kendra and I had the nannies watch the kiddos while we went costume shopping the Friday before Halloween. We decided Delilah and Jayson should match since they'd be sharing a double stroller we were borrowing from Kendra's sister. We ended up picking Mario and Luigi costumes since they'd be warm and comfortable for the babies. We also picked out Princess Peach and Daisy masks for the two of us. We weren't dressing up, though. We were just going to wear clothes in the colors the princesses wear.

So now the day was here and we were feeding the babies dinner at Kendra's before heading out to walk the neighborhood. Jayson would eat anything, so he was sharing Kendra's husband Mike's lo mein. Delilah was not quite so adventurous, and she was younger, so I was feeding her some peas and sweet potato. I made her baby food myself because I was that kind of mom.

We get the little ones in their costumes and take a million pictures. I run home to change while Kendra and Mike got them strapped in the stroller. I wear all pink since I was Peach. My hair color is wrong, but whatever.

Mike sits down on the stairs with two big bowls of candy (one for their house and one for mine) and waves goodbye to us.

"Just two years ago I was wearing a sexy Halloween costume," Kendra says glumly as we start walking. "Now I have on a yellow hoodie and a mask covering my face."

"We're getting old," I say, painfully aware of this fact since it is my birthday and I am now on the other side of 25.

My mind flickers briefly to the Halloween that I went out with Jules and Liz, when Shawn and his friends showed up. I think that was the first time I felt like there was some chemistry between me and Shawn, as unbelievable as that was to me at the time. I push that memory out of my head.

Kendra had told me earlier that everyone in Bay Ridge just sits on their bottom steps to hand out candy. Almost all the townhouses have staircases and there's just too much risk for little ones in bulky costumes to fall going up or down to get to the door. The added bonus is that you know who is participating, so you aren't ringing doorbells for nothing. It makes trick-or-treating much easier.

We decide to walk in a square formation with three blocks making up each side of the square. We figure twelve Brooklyn blocks will be about all Lila and Jay can handle. We're only doing one side of the street, too. We're not in it for the candy since it's not like the babies can even eat it. It is more about being out and enjoying the festive holiday in our neighborhood.

We're on the side of the square opposite our street, but kind of diagonal to where our houses are. I see a guy sitting on his third step looking at his phone. He's wearing one of those funny glasses-nose-mustache things and a big straw hat. Most of the adults are in costume, so it's not surprising. The closer we get, the more I realize there is something very familiar about the way he is sitting. It hits me who it is when I spot the sparrow tattoo on his hand, which happens right at the moment when he looks up at us.

Shawn.

My first instinct is to turn the stroller around and run, but Kendra is next to me and has already waved to him. There's no way for me tell her who it is. I am so thankful for the mask covering my face, because I am undoubtedly bright red. Plus, the odds are he won't recognize me.

We slow the stroller to a stop in front of his place. I glance up at his brownstone townhouse. It's gorgeous. I actually know this block from my walks with Lila. The houses have back access to real garages and each one has a nice little back yard.