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WHEN JAMIE OPENED HER eyes, the twins were already awake, jumping on their beds, shouting. She groaned and rolled over onto her side, peeking at Alex through one eye.
“What do you think are the chances they woke up Rosie?” she asked in a hoarse voice.
Before Alex could answer, Rosie started crying in the nursery next door.
“Well, I would say that she’s awake,” Alex groaned. “They should know better than that.” He sat up and rubbed his eyes. “It’s 7 o’clock, for crying out loud!”
Jamie chuckled and scraped her hair out of her face, sitting up, too. “It’s Halloween. They are so excited about tonight.”
“And it’s a full twelve hours away,” Alex complained. “Maybe I should have gone in to the office instead.”
Jamie shot Alex a look, but he grinned. “Joking,” he said.
Jamie laughed and they both rolled out of bed, ready to tackle the hordes. Jamie walked to the nursery and snuggled Rosie against her.
“Did they wake you up, sweetie pie?” she asked. Rosie made whimpering sounds. “Yeah, me too. I feel exactly the same.” Jamie settled into her nursing chair and cuddled Rosie in her arms while she fed her. She heard Alex storm into the twins’ room, roaring, sending them into a fit of shrieks and laughter. Jamie smiled. Alex was such a wonderful father.
“I bet all the hugs and kisses in the world that Markie is going to do the same thing in three seconds,” Jamie mused.
She counted silently in her head, and when she hit three, she heard Markie scream and roar just like his father had done. And Alex and the twins recreated their shrieking and giggling for Markie’s sake. She had expected that, too.
She could hear the four of them going on in the kids’ room, and Jamie shook her head.
For someone who complained so much when he was woken up early by the kids, Alex seemed to be in his element when he was playing with them that early.
A moment later she could hear him announcing that it was time for breakfast, and the four of them marched down the hallway to the kitchen.
After Rosie was fed, Jamie changed her diaper and carried her down to the kitchen, where Alex was already whipping up pancake batter with the twins. Markie sat on the floor stacking plastic containers that Alex had taken out of the cupboard for him.
“What is this?” Jamie asked exaggeratedly. “Are we getting pancakes for breakfast?”
The twins cheered and helped Alex feverishly, while Markie tried to stack the highest tower he could.
“Mommy?” Benton asked, spinning around. “Can we have a puppy?”
Jamie and Alex glanced at each other and burst out laughing. There was no way they would be able to handle a puppy with everything else right now.
“Not just yet, sweetheart,” Jamie said in a soothing tone. “For now, let’s just get everyone grown up.”
“But that’s going to take forever,” Benton said, throwing his hands down in exasperation.
Alex tried to swallow a laugh. Jamie smiled, wishing she had gotten it on camera somehow.
After breakfast was made, everyone wanted to try on their Halloween outfits again. But Jamie put the brakes on. They were going to get dressed up later. Now they were going to spend some time playing outside and swimming. The weather was turning, winter was headed their way, and there wouldn’t be a lot of time left in the sun. They had to enjoy it while they could.
The water had already gotten quite cold, and the kids opted to stay on the steps with only their legs in the water. Jamie and Alex lay in the sun with Rosie cooing and gurgling on one of the play swings they had gotten her. Alex reached over and kissed Jamie, just a chaste peck in front of the kids. But in his eyes, she saw the memories of last night. And it was just as hot as it had been then.
Finally, it was time for everyone to start getting ready for Halloween. Jamie was in the bathroom, doing Markie’s hair. It had to look exactly like his father’s. He was adamant, and extremely fussy. But when she was done, he looked cute as heck. Jamie grabbed her phone and snapped a dozen photos of him.
Alex had helped the twins change into their ninja outfits, painting the bits of their faces that showed black so that they looked the part. Rosie was already in her carrier, ready to be loaded into the stroller, and Jamie had already taken so many photos of her, she would have to delete some later to make space on her phone.
The kids were wild with excitement. They couldn’t wait to go out in their costumes and get sweets from all their neighbors.
On Halloween, the entire neighborhood went trick or treating. It was a tradition, and all the people that had attended their Fourth of July party would join in.
Jamie had to admit that she was quite excited, too.
Mark and Erica were the first to arrive. Emily was dressed as a pumpkin, and Mark and Erica had dressed up in the same way. It was so cliché— and so adorable.
“I’ve always said that you are getting round,” Alex said, nudging his brother. “I just didn’t realize how serious it is.” He burst out laughing.
Mark rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding me? I am the most handsome pumpkin you’ll ever see.”
Erica laughed. “He’s been saying that all night. I think he’s trying to convince himself.”
“Whose side are you on?” Mark asked, indignant. “You have to agree. Besides, you’re my pumpkin buddy. We are the pumpkin couple. If I don’t look good, it means you don’t, either.”
Erica smiled and pulled Mark as closely as she could with the two large costumes around them. “Honey, we adjust us vegetables.”
The four adults laughed.
Since Mark and Erica had arrived and they could watch the kids, Alex and Jamie slipped away to get into their own outfits. When they came back to join the others, Paul and Christine had arrived, too. They all pointed and laughed and exclaimed about each other’s outfits.
Because Alex and Jamie had dressed up as police officers. It was perfectly cliché. And so apt.
Christine was about five months along, and she was already showing. To celebrate it, to emphasize it, she had dressed up as an Egyptian mummy. But her belly was showing for the pun – Egyptian mommy.
It was adorable and Jamie fussed about it, snapping more photos, asking the men to take photos of the two sisters together, and then the two brothers, and then they set the phone on a timer to take photos of the two couples.
Although it was a bit of a downer that Paul hadn’t dressed up at all. He stood stubbornly by his belief that Halloween was for kids.
“Don’t be silly,” Jamie said, laughing. “This is all good fun, can’t you feel the atmosphere? Halloween is for everyone! Besides, you’ll change your mind about it when the little one is born. Trust me, life as you know it will change completely.”
“I don’t think so,” Paul said stubbornly. “I won’t let a baby change me.”
Jamie shared a knowing smile with Alex. There had been a time when they had said that, too. Everyone had this idea in mind that they wouldn’t be like other parents, that they wouldn’t change anything, the kids had to fit in with their lives.
But as soon as that little pink bundle – or two – arrived, everything changed. If you were stirring before, your heart melted. And no matter how much you had planned not to let the baby change your life, it was inevitable.
Alex pulled Jamie close. “You look sexy as hell, babe,” he whispered. “I might have to lock you up for it.”
“Will I get time off for good behavior?” Jamie asked in a sultry voice.
“Oh, you will get a lot more than that.” Alex waggled his eyebrows at her.
She giggled. “I could have been a cop in another life,” Jamie said.
“Absolutely,” Alex agreed.
Jamie giggled. “Just for the record, Officer Reid, you look pretty damn dashing, too.”
“All right, lovebirds,” Mark said, rolling his eyes at the pair. “Let’s go get some candy.”
The kids squealed with excitement as they stepped out into the night.
