Halloween Special 🎃

"Dom, she is too young for this. Wait a few more years." Iris laughed as she read a book and kept watch on baby Marie while her father was doing things nobody expected him to.

Ever since the war had been won and peace had been settled.

Dominic and Iris chose a secluded place untouched by war or any bad memories, a small cottage beside a private white beach in Brazil, to raise their daughter.

Of course, there were times when they had to fly or teleport to a meeting halfway across the world when Freddie or Nora needed them to be present. The Alpha King and Queen could simply not vanish with the little princess. The secret perfectly up-to-date with technology and the magic, basement of the cottage was an example of how Dom and Iris were working from home while giving Marie the childhood that neither of them had.

They had settled into this new routine of mundane chores which meant everything to the couple who had seen and suffered so much in their millennia-long lives.

Dom had changed.

Whether it was peace or the effect of his newborn. He had become softer than Iris had ever seen him.

That is why seeing him hang cute little bats around the nursery ceiling with a child-like excitement was something Iris didn't expect but didn't regret either.

He had spent a lot of time gathering festive stuff for the whole cottage as there was no mall near their isolated abode.

And now he was almost done decorating his little princess' room with the cutest Halloween-themed stuff he could find across the globe.

Marie waddled up to her father as he climbed down the ladder he had set up and raised her arms 'Up. Up.' She mumbled at him to carry her.

His eyes reflected the joy in his heart each time he looked at his little family, just like this time, as he bent down and picked her up then raised her and threw her midair to catch her and kiss her little forehead making her shriek in excitement and then giggle at the end. She tried to kiss him back but her lips brushed his beard and she made a face at the thick hair, making a laugh boom in Dom's chest.

"It's Pumpkin carving time!" Dom told the little child who tried to mimic his words excitedly without knowing what was there to be excited about, "Pumkip! Pumkip!"

He moved towards his wife, shifted his daughter to one arm, and smoothly found the handmade bookmark that Clara had sent Iris as a gift for starting her new hobby. After things had settled down, Iris had chosen to catch up on world literature, something her previous life hadn't allowed her.

Dom placed the pretty bookmark between the pages that Iris was currently reading, before slowly pulling away the book from her reluctant hands, who still let him take the book because pumpkin carving was the plan they had agreed on and she wanted to be there with her family creating new memories and going through new positive experiences.

Pumpkins of various sizes were placed outside the cottage as Dom took off his shirt so that he wouldn't ruin it accidentally with pumpkin innards. Iris changed Marie's clothes too and allowed her to walk around her father who was busy emptying the pumpkins for the girls to carve.

While Iris and Dom made some goofy little shapes, Marie brought her orange Play-Doh to match and copy what her parents were doing but mixed the toy with the pumpkin innards while doing so. They both laughed, but everything she did brought joy to them and it was worth watching their toddler be the goofy little being that she was, full of innocence and a bright future.

The couple later lit the pumpkins before heading indoors after cleaning up the outside mess that they had created, to clean up themselves.

Dom stepped out of the shower and like a toddler himself stepped stealthily into the room to get into his costume.

Iris had just finished dressing up Marie in an adorable mermaid costume with the skirt cut underneath to give walking space to her little wobbling feet, when a pretend horse neigh sounded from behind them.

They turned as Iris barely held in the laugh, which was outdone by Marie's squeals of joy at seeing her father, "Ubicorn! Ubicone! Ubicorn!"

She turned to her mother in her pure childish joy at seeing her father dressed in a unicorn onesie, that was custom-made because he was that huge, along with the sparkly rainbow horn at the top of his head, all his hair carefully covered underneath the hood.

"Look, Mommy! Daddy is a Ubicorn!"

The couple laughed as Dom picked up his little mermaid who loved unicorns and carried her to the lounge, "Get dressed, there is a surprise for you too." Dom called back to his wife, who finally decided to allow herself to laugh at her husband's giant form snug in a comfortable unicorn onesie.

Once dressed up and ready as a fairy, Iris walked into the lounge fixing her sparkly net wings while holding a plastic wand with a star on its end.

"Trick or Treat!"

Came a loud chorus, making Iris stop in her tracks in shock to see her closest friends in the living area of her cottage.

Freddie, Nora, Nathanial, Clara, Sussane, Richard (Her mate), and even Delta Edmond had managed to take some time and dressed up to gather for a holiday surprise, doubling the joy of little Marie at seeing so many people.

Iris rushed to hug them all. It didn't matter if they just saw each other on a video chat yesterday, their duties and lives had required them to be too busy to spend such quality time together and Iris was ready to make the most of it.

They had all brought a whole lot of sweets for Marie as well as some gorgeously decorated Halloween-themed dishes from around the world to share with friends and family.

That night after Marie had worn herself out and gone to sleep on Sussane's shoulder, they had moved to the beach that Dom had decorated the previous day with fairy lights, as they built a fire beside the ocean and placed huge cushions to sit on. It was a strange sight watching a Fairy snuggle with a giant Unicorn beside a fire on a beach. And a Zombie that Nora was dressed up as kissing classic old Dracula that Freddie had tried to become, so far from the realism of Vampires. Or seeing sweet Sussan, the serial killer nurse, getting comfortable beside an Ogre that she had made her mate, and soon-to-be husband, dress up as.

Freddie showed off his hidden talent for guitar playing as Nora sang in a surprisingly beautiful voice. The melody reminded them of their journey and how far they had come.

The prophecy that was made by the priest during their first matrimonial ritual had come true. Even though it had just been a couple of years, the progress and peace that the world had seen was like never before in history.

Individually they each had begun to rediscover themselves without any massive threats and having found time to reconnect with themselves, finding who they were and what they liked. It was a new stage of their long lives and they held hands with their mates, heads resting on their partner's shoulders, raised toasts, and got drunk on the sunrise.

This was confessed to be the first Halloween of their centuries upon centuries of lives spent in such bliss.

**Author's note:

Happy Halloween to all my Escapist readers. I have never celebrated Halloween as it is not a part of our culture, but I have always loved the dress-up and trick-or-treat part of this festival. What was the best Halloween of your life? What is your favorite costume for Halloween? Are there any family traditions unique to your family for this holiday? Have you been trick-or-treating? How many treats did you gather? Did you trick anyone? These questions are not for toddlers, but for adults who were once toddlers. Never let your inner child go.**