Falice

Decorating

Alice stared out the window, watching FP carry boxes out of the car and leaving them at the door. She was curious to know what he was doing so she opened the door to find out. "What are you doing?"

"Bringing a little spirit to the house," FP pulled out a plastic ghost. "Get it." He cheekily smiled. She fondly rolled her eyes. "I thought we could decorate the house a little with the girls. I would have suggested pumpkin carving but Jug's not here. He used to love carving pumpkins back at the trailer when he was younger."

Alice saw the frown on his face, "I know you miss him. We can still do it when he comes this weekend."

"I brought a plastic pumpkin to put up," FP opened the box.

"We can all still carve pumpkins. It will be a nice bonding experience. We'll even celebrate with Charles this year." Alice smiled. He couldn't help but reciprocate the same big smile. "I can't wait," He said.

"He should be here soon with Jellybean and Betty. School's almost over."

•••

Charles walked the girls up to the door where they noticed the boxes. "Hey, mom? What's with the boxes?" Betty asked as she entered.

"Oh, FP brought decorations to put outside. He wants to make it spooky out there." Alice answered as FP walked out to get started on the decorating.

Jellybean looked into the boxes. "These don't look scary." She pulled out a plastic bat on a string. Betty took out a ghost. "These are kinda cute." She chuckled. "This is Elm St. for crying out loud. Shouldn't it be a little more on the creepy side?"

"You want to be frightened? Okay," FP huffed and walked inside. "I'll be right back."

"Let's get started on the decorations while he comes back." Alice pulled things out of the box. "Charles, sweetheart, can you pass me the tacks from in there?"

"Where did he get these?" He asked as he handed her what she needed. Betty and Jellybean both started to place things on the lawn in the meantime.

"He just showed up with them. The man really loves Halloween." Alice held up a ghost and tacked it to the post.

A few minutes of decorating later the group finished without FP's help. Betty arched an eyebrow. "Did he just not come back?" She questioned. "Wasn't he getting more decorations?"

"He had them all out here," Alice answered her question. "I don't know what he's doing."

Charles' phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out to check. "I've got to take this. I'll be right back."

"We'll be inside," Alice nodded. "Betty, JB, do you two want a snack? You must be hungry."

"It's a little chilly. Can we make hot coco?" Jellybean asked.

"Of course, honey. Let's go heat up the stove."

Charles poked his head in for a second. "Hey, JB! Can you come out here for a second?"

"Okay?" She was confused but nevertheless went to go meet him outside leaving Alice and Betty to go off to the kitchen on their own. A Ghostface jumped out unexpectedly to scare the two, primarily Betty. They both screamed loudly.

"Okay, I take back what I said," Betty apologized. "Maybe the cute decorations were the way to go."

"FP, that wasn't funny." Alice smacked his shoulder.

"Looks like you've seen a ghost," FP yanked his mask off and laughed. "Someone wanted a little fright and so they got it."

"You waited in here this whole time just to do that?"

"Yes," FP nodded proudly. Charles walked in with Jellybean. "Charlie, you should have seen the look on their faces."

"Wait, he knew?" Betty pointed to her brother.

"Well duh, I needed him to keep Jellybelly outside. I didn't want to scare her too."

"But she's the one that said it wasn't scary."

"She's my baby girl," FP put an arm around Jellybean. He pinched her cheek. "I couldn't scare that cute little face."

"What about me?" Alice crossed her arms. "I didn't do anything and this face is beautiful."

"Sorry, Al. You just happened to be with Betty." He shrugged. "There's one more surprise though."

"I don't want it," Betty shook her head.

"Alright then, your words." FP put his hands up. He pointed at the door. "She doesn't want to see you, boy." Betty turned to see Jughead at the door, clearly surprised he came home early. It so happened FP got a call when he was setting up his own surprise. Betty went to go greet Jughead. "Found out he was coming early this week."

"I like this surprise better."

"This surprise? What'd he do?" Jughead chuckled and hugged her.

"He scared us because his decorations weren't scary."

"It gave me an excuse to whip this out," FP put the mask down on the counter. "Maybe all we needed was a little scream."