Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

Part One

To kids, there were only two holidays that truly mattered; Christmas and Halloween. You could add their birthday if that counted. The reason behind this was very obvious; they both revolved around them. For Christmas you got presents and for Halloween you got candy. Birthdays were just the best of two words in one; you got presents, candy, and on top of it, cake too!

For Lizzie and Mason, it didn't get better than Halloween. Not only because of the spooky decorations, costumes, and the massive amount of candy; but because they could be mischievous and get away with it.

They had been best friends since they could remember and they always went trick or treating together. Even for their short age, they already had a tradition of their own going. Both moms prepared for the madness and knowing what to expect, they always made sure everything went accordingly for them. This year, however, it would be a little different...

It was Lizzie's first year spending the day with her dad. She was very excited about this; mostly because he had shown to be a little more open minded in many things unlike her mom.

The blonde girl wasn't the only one looking forward to this, Mason's mom was too. Claire and Owen had been dating for a few months now, both kids completely used and welcomed to the relationship by then. They were the biggest enthusiasts, it was always fun to spend the day hanging out with both of them. It was until Claire and Owen had met when the kids could experience first hand what it was like for their other friends to share family time — sure, Lizzie had her step-dad but he was just a sack of boring in a suit.

Owen had been getting tips about how Halloween went from both ends, both his favorite girls feeding him what was important to them. It sounded like a headache, try figure out how to make both happy ...but he had mastered it by then, or had he?

Lizzie had shared with him the entire tradition and had made emphasis on what was important for Mason and her. He had to make sure everything worked perfectly, the last thing he wanted was to disappoint his little girl. She was a very demanding one, sometimes too demanding for being just seven years of age. The tricky part? Everything Lizzie found important was also the red flags Claire had pointed out to him, those little details where she needed his support so the kids wouldn't go overboard.

Each year, Brenda and Claire took turns. Last year it had been Lizzie's mom the one to deal with the kids all day long. This year it was Claire's turn and she was glad she'd have some help. Anyone who had had a close insight into Mason and Lizzie knew they were an earthquake together.

The kids' tradition started with a two-night sleepover, mom and dad dating turned this into a massive pajama party; which the kids were loving. Either Claire or Brenda would struggle to have them in bed at a regular time, after all, Halloween was still on a school day. This year Owen had worked his charm and convinced the redhead to let them stay up until their bodies gave out. It would be the teacher's problem to deal with two kids deprived of sleep after all. Heck, he even pitched the idea that having them lacking energy would make their teacher's day easier — they even owe it to her.

Since her promotion at work, Claire had been able to afford a bigger bed. Her room now felt small with the king size bed in there. But it always came handy since all four of them fit perfectly.

They had ordered pizza for dinner and had added Owen's secret ingredients to it; half with M&Ms and the other half with gummy worms. They also had ice-cream for late dessert and cherry coke always seemed to be a favorite. It was a no brainer why it was already ten at night and both seven-year-olds were still fully awake enjoying their movie marathon. The kids were watching The Nightmare Before Christmas, a movie Claire already knew every line to.

Part of the tradition was to wear spooky pajamas and that included the parent. They didn't like it when the adult would ruin the spirit by not wearing one. Lizzie was wearing a grey long nightgown with little black cats, white ghosts, and orange pumpkins in it. She was resting on her belly, the Halloween themed paper plate holding her food in front of her. She was singing along the movie while pinching the gummy worms off her pizza and eating those first.