As he carved out heart-shaped pumpkin eyes at Rosalie’s behest, Meg joked, “Did you realize you were signing up to have two families, or was that a fun surprise?”
He doesn’t have two families, though; we’re all one family—just a large, unusual one.
I like being a part of a big family. Plenty of love to go around.
“Rawr!” As we walk into the media room, an adorable little lion lunges at us, trying his best to be scary.
Rosalie sails over to him and shoves Princess Sparkles in his face. “I have a doggie!”
Westley the little lion man loses his ferociousness and takes her doggie, inspecting it. “I like him.”
“His name is Princess Sparkles,” she informs him.
“That’s a lovely name,” Elise says, coming over with a bowl of candy. She’s wearing a long red dress with a gold belt tied around her waist. Her long blonde hair is wavy, and I recognize her as Buttercup from The Princess Bride.
Uh oh.
Oh no.
Suddenly Meg’s pirate comment comes back to me and I turn my head while Elise is busy doling out candy. And there’s Adrian, dressed up as the dashing Dread Pirate Roberts. Black material adheres tightly to every muscled inch of him. He wears a mask and black leather gloves. The man brandishes a sword, for god’s sake.
“I love Halloween,” I state.
My sexy captain chuckles and nips at my ear. Gooseflesh rises up all over.
Seriously, I love Halloween.
“We need pictures,” Meg states, pulling a cell phone from her voluminous skirts.
Mateo’s face is too close. I can’t avoid the temptation of turning my head and stealing a kiss. “We need bedtime.”
“I should’ve sent you two for a snack run earlier. I didn’t think it through,” Meg states.
“I’m really hungry,” Mateo states.
She smirks. “Yeah, I bet you are. It’s too late now. You’ll just have to wait until after we’re all done here. The wait won’t kill you.”
“It might,” he suggests.
Meg pops over and steals a candy bar from Elise’s bowl, then hands it to Mateo. “There you go. That’ll hold you over.”
He looks at the Milky Way bar like it offends him. “I don’t like candy.”
“That’s not normal,” she informs him, shaking her head and snatching the candy right back out of his hand. “I don’t know why I like you, I swear to God.”
“Look at him in the uniform again,” I advise.
He takes a step to the side so I’m not obstructing the view.
Meg’s eyes travel over all the sexiness displayed before her. “Oh, yeah; that’s why.”
We spend the next few minutes taking pictures. Rosalie tries to steal Adrian’s sword. Hermione abandons us to discuss The Princess Bride with the Dread Pirate Roberts. Bella rounds up Dorothy and the cowardly lion and leads us all to the next room.
“Trick or treat!” Rosalie says, thrusting her basket toward Sal.
Westley wordlessly holds up his little pumpkin pail with the expectation of candy.
Francesca and Sal went on the nose; he’s dressed in a slick pinstripe suit and fedora—a gangster. She’s his moll, wearing a 20’s style flapper dress.
“Aw, man,” Meg complains, elbowing Mateo. “Look, why didn’t we do that?”
“Hey, you picked the costumes,” he reminds her.
“I call those for next year,” she states. “I already know what you look like in a fedora. Mia will approve of that costume choice. We can both wear flapper dresses—one for each arm. It’s gonna be awesome.”
“You want me to go as a mob boss for Halloween? Really?” he asks skeptically. “I’m a mob boss for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
“But Sal’s a boss and he did it,” she states.
“Then you should’ve married Sal,” he replies.
“Bite your tongue, Fiyero,” Francesca says, shooting Mateo a dirty look.
Bella opens a silver sparkly handbag that’s serving as her treat bag. “I love your headband. You look so pretty.”
Francesca beams at her as she drops some candy in her bag. “Thanks. I love this Holly Golightly thing. Super cute.”
“Do you know who I am?” Lily asks, leaving Adrian’s side to get some candy.
“A girl who has a crush on Adrian?” Sal guesses.
Lily’s face flames and Francesca jams an elbow in his oblique.
“Ouch,” he says, rubbing his side.
“He meant Hermione,” Francesca states. “Your costume is really cool, I like it.”
“I don’t have a crush on Adrian. We both like books,” Lily mutters, glaring at Sal as she takes her candy, then returning to Adrian’s side.
“Salvatore Castellanos, no picking on little girls. No one likes a jerk,” I admonish.
His jaw falls open and he looks at Mateo instead of me. “Is she for real?”
“Nice guys only,” he returns, his voice dripping with amusement. “Sorry, Sal.”
After Sal and Francesca’s room, we continue on to the next ones. Alec mans his own room dressed as a vampire—I think because all it required was wearing a cape over a suit. I don’t really know the men in the rest of the rooms. We ran out of family members we like, so Mateo called some soldiers in to do the job. The kids are pretty into the candy gathering now, so they don’t care. They run from room to room, taking candy from strangers—candy Mateo bought from “strangers” Mateo employs. So, Morelli style trick-or-treating, but it works.