A Love Like the Addams
Halloween arrived in the blink of an eye, and Allie’s excitement for today was truly infectious.
All week she’s talked nonstop about this little get-together, and at this point, it’s got me more excited too.
Seeing her bright smile, eyes crinkling in the corners slightly, makes me so incredibly happy.
I’d give her the moon on a string if she smiled like that all the time.
Throughout the week, we worked on getting everything ready, so we had less to do on Saturday and could enjoy time together.
After sleeping in and having a slow morning, we finally got up, headed to the kitchen, and made homemade cinnamon rolls together.
Her granny’s recipe, she had told me proudly, as she taught me step by step what to do.
I helped carefully measure each ingredient and kneaded the dough before shaping it to sit and rise.
The house smelled of warm butter and cinnamon, mixed with the deep aroma of coffee and sweet caramel, while the sunlight filtered in through all the windows.
It was cool enough outside, so I opened all the windows to let the crisp air in and soaked up every moment.
I never thought I could have this type of home.
A home that was full of love and quiet, where every room felt like my safe space, and now I got to share that with someone I loved.
Sitting here on the couch, bundled up with our mountains of blankets, and warm, gooey cinnamon rolls in hand, was truly the perfect way to start our Halloween morning.
As we lay there, we decided to try out this new co-op horror game that I thought would be right up her alley.
I knew that video games weren’t her thing, but I liked that she seemed genuinely interested in learning about what I played and trying to play some games herself too.
The quality time was what we loved the most.
“Okay, so we have four giant bags of mixed candy. Surely that’s plenty to leave out for people, right?
” Allie asked in between bites, a small drop of the cream cheese frosting clinging to her lip.
Reaching over, I swiped the stray drop away with the pad of my thumb, darting my tongue out, and licked it off.
Her eyes were tracking the movement. She swallowed, and her eyes flicked up to meet mine.
I gave her a lazy smirk before peeling myself off the couch and making my way to the kitchen, dumping my plate in the sink.
“I mean, surely we will. I’m not sure how many children are in your neighborhood, but if anything, we’ll have lots left over.
” Grabbing the scissors nestled in the knife block, I started cutting all the bags open and pouring them into bowls.
We made sure we had options for everyone, sugar-free, some with no nuts, and the regular candy.
Allie didn’t want anyone to be left out of enjoying today.
I separated them all accordingly and labeled each bowl so everyone knew of the options we had.
Allie busied herself making sure we had all the snack stuff and ensuring all the decorations were out.
I knew it was only going to be our close friends coming, but she still wanted it all to be picture-perfect.
There were spider webs draped across any surface, random little spiders stuck in the webs, and then we worked for hours making shadowed figures to put on the wall and windows to create a haunted house feel.
It aligned perfectly with our costumes, and I couldn’t wait to see it all come together.
Allie’s mind was a beautiful place, and seeing all her hard work come together was something special.
“This has been a fun day so far. I’m glad we got to spend it together.” Walking up behind her as she situated a stubborn web in its place, I snaked my arms around her, resting my head on her shoulder. Allie leaned into me and signed contently, taking in her handiwork.
“Me too. I’m excited for tonight too. I think it’s gonna be a lot of fun.” She finally said after doing another sweep of the area.
“Jacob and Carson have been texting me today too, talking about it. I guess as you get older, a lot of holidays lose that spark, so this is a nice change.”
“They really do because you have so many more responsibilities as an adult, and it isn’t the same.
” Her phone let out a soft ding, and she flipped it over to check the notification.
“Oh, Olivia texted that she’s here. I’m gonna go help her, and then when I’m done, it’ll be time for me to get ready. Do you need anything?”
“No, I'm good, sweetheart. I love you so much.”
“I love you most.” Giving me a quick kiss, she made her way to the front door to let Olivia in and help her.
While she was helping her sister, I decided to go sit out back with Dolly and look through her Pinterest board that Emma sent me to start my planning.
I wanted to make sure everything would be perfect.
I’d also already been warned again, if I ever did anything to hurt her, she was a nurse and knew how to end me, and make it look like natural causes.
Emma was a little thing, but she was terrifying if she needed to be.
After feeling satisfied with my findings and letting Dolly get some more of her energy out, I headed inside to check on the girls. I could hear them talking and laughing, and it made me smile.
“Ladies. Just wanted to see if y'all need me to do anything for you. Jesus, that's terrifying.” Standing in the middle of the living room was Olivia, all dressed up as a perfectly horrifying zombie princess.
“Isn’t it! It turned out better than I imagined.” Olivia squealed as Allie was checking over her work. She had the most radiant smile on, pleased with what she had accomplished. The random talents this woman pulled out at times were astounding, really.
“Sissy did a great job, didn't she? I can’t wait to terrify people, and I’m already starting off strong by scaring you!” Olivia was trying and failing to stay still and was bouncing up and down. Allie shook her head and laughed, taking one last look over the outfit.
“You didn’t scare me. I was just stating the obvious.”
“Your voice went up a couple of octaves. You were scared, buddy.” Olivia shot back with her ever-present sass.
“Whatever you say, ya little brat.” I chuckled and pulled Allie into me. She squeezed me tight, lying her head against my shoulder. “Hi, gorgeous.”
“Hi, handsome.”
“You did great, honestly, sweetheart. I can’t wait to get into our costumes later.”
“Oh, what time is it? I wasn’t paying attention.
” Allie scrambled for her phone, completely ignoring the fact that she had a watch on her wrist. “Phew, okay, it’s almost three.
Glad no one overreacted there. Alright, sis, you’re all done and good to go.
Do you need me to do anything else or need anything? ”
“Nope, I’m all good! I’m gonna go see Mom before heading to my friends. Thank you again, it's perfect.” They hugged each other tightly, being extra careful to not mess up the makeup.
“Anything for you, baby. I’m always here for you. Don’t forget to come by with everyone so I can see your group! I stashed the king-size bars away for y’all.” She winked at her sister as she pulled away.
“I will, don’t worry. I love you guys, see ya later!” Olivia ran out, leaving Allie and me standing in the living room.
“That child is going to be the death of me, I swear.”
“She’s just like you. Might as well be your mini-me.” She swatted my arm, laughing.
“You’re not wrong, I guess. The little spawn. Alrighty, let’s go over the decorations one last time before I go shower and get ready.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Giving her a salute, I set to work, making sure everything was perfect for her.
Four o’clock rolled around, and I showered, starting to get ready. We had all the candy bowls set outside and ready, so nothing else needed to be done for the trick-or-treaters. Everything in the house was all set, and everyone confirmed they’d be coming.
Allie was at her vanity finishing her hair and makeup when I got done showering. She was wearing this black cotton robe that made focusing very hard.
“You’re going to look amazing once everything is done.” I walked up behind her, running my hands under the top of her robe and along her shoulders. She let out a soft sigh and leaned back against me.
“I’m sure most people would say it’s basic, but I’m excited for our costume. It’s a classic.”
“Even if it is basic, you love it, and that’s all that matters.” I placed featherlight kisses along her jaw.
“If you don’t stop, I’m going to go off the schedule I’ve created in my head.” She tilted her head back, giving me better access to her neck. I trailed a few kisses down and along the tops of her shoulders.
“Well, we certainly can’t have that. I’ll go style my hair like you showed me and then get dressed.
Holler if you need me.” Pulling on my boxers, I made my way to the bathroom.
It took an ungodly amount of cream, but I was finally able to get my curls to behave and lay slicked back.
I sprayed my cologne on and then got dressed.
The costume was simple enough, an all-black suit with white pinstripes, slicked-back hair, and black dress shoes.
“Alright, sweetheart, how do I look?”
“Hmm, something’s missing…” She tapped her finger against her chin while she took me in. “Oh, I know! The mustache! Come here so I can draw it on.”
“What are you gonna use?”
“These two brow pencils, so it looks more realistic like little hairs. Sit.” She straddled my lap and set to work drawing the mustache on, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she focused.
When she finished, she pinched my chin in her fingers, turning my head left and right, and examined my face.
Once happy with her work, she nodded to herself and held up a little mirror for me to look at.
“See, it pulls it all together, don’t you think?”