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Christmas Town was as beautiful as Scott remembered. The snow was fresh, dry and powdery instead of the wet slush they sometimes got in Halloween Town, and the twinkling lights were wrapped around everything. There was hardly a need for street lamps, but those that were there were in the shapes of Christmas trees and bells and ribbons.
And some of the buildings were made of gingerbread, which made Scott want to reach for his rolling pin and get to work. He never got to make gingerbread.
“Wow,” Kira said softly, next to him. “This is...amazing.”
“Have you been before?” he asked her.
She shook her head. “How often can I come back?"
"Any time you want to visit my mom, I guess," he laughed. In truth, he was a little sad about the whole thing. After he'd been bitten, he and his mom had both moved to Halloween Town. Of course, the town was never meant for his mom, even if they both wished it was. She may have enjoyed horror movies and monsters as much as the next person, but at the end of the day, she was a human, frozen in time there.
She was still frozen in time in Christmas Town, but at least she had Marin here.
They weren't the first couple to get married despite being from different towns, but it was still pretty uncommon, and so it was a pretty big event. Practically the entire population of Halloween Town was trying to get through the portal at the moment; Scott and Kira were only lucky enough to break through the line because they were in the wedding party.
By this point, Scott was pretty familiar with the town; he'd been helping his mom and Marin set everything up for the last few days. "It's this way," he told Kira, taking her hand and leading her through a quick shortcut of Christmas trees.
The wedding was taking place in a big arena in the center of Christmas Town. It was one of the larger buildings in town, and the one with the most seating, which they'd quickly realized was necessary when so many people had immediately RSVP'd.
The outside of the building was green, with red stripes. If Scott was being honest, it looked tacky. But charitably, he'd told his mother that it was pretty.
It was pretty, just... in a tacky way.
Inside was better. Marin, despite being a Christmas elf, seemed to have a keen eye for fashion and aesthetics. Lights were strung up (of course), swaths of white fabric hung from the walls, and there were only a few smatterings of red and green tinsel.
There were also jack'o'lanterns, carved to be smiling. Melissa's addition.
"You can wait here," Scott told Kira as they reached the back area, where both Marin and his mom were getting ready. "I'm gonna go check on Mom, all right?"
"Sounds good!" she agreed, taking a seat in one of the squishy armchairs that seemed to pop up every where in Christmas Town.
He found his mom standing in front of a mirror in a long mirror, picking at her dress. The dress was a lacy gradient, starting in a lovely shade of ivory and fading into a soft ochre. She had opted not to use a train, but the veil in her hair looked like beautiful, intricate spider webs.
"Mom, you look beautiful," he said, wrapping his arms around her gently, so as not to wrinkle the dress.
She smiled at him. "Thank you, honey. You look very nice, too." She turned her attention back to the mirror in front of her. "Do you think she'll like it?"
"Of course," he said, not even hesitating to think about it. "Marin is so lucky to have you."
"I think I'm the lucky one," she said lightly. "A beautiful bride and a lovely son to walk me down the aisle."
He laughed with her. "I'm happy for you."
"Really?" she asked, obviously worried. "I know it means we won't be living together in Halloween Town any more. Will you be okay on your own?"
"Okay, first of all, I won't be on my own," he assured her. "Kira and I have been talking about moving in togther." Before she could stop him and demand answers, he pressed forward. "Plus, this just gives me more chances to come see you here."
"That's true," she said, sighing. Then, she nudged him lightly. "So, things are getting serious, hmm?"
Scott smiled, thinking about when he and Kira had changed the trick and treat policy Halloween Town had worked under for so long. Had it really only been three years? Yet now, seeing his mother get her happy ever after, some hundred years after his dick of a father had walked out on them, he wondered how much longer he could wait before deciding to follow in her footsteps.
Kira, he thought, would look lovely in an orange wedding dress.
"Yeah," he said aloud. "It's getting pretty serious."
Kira was chatting with another bridesmaid by the time he made it back to her. "Hey," she said, smiling at him and kissing his cheek. "How's she doing?"
"Nervous, but excited," he said. "Did your parents get here okay?"
She nodded and pointed them out in the crowd, on the left side. "Mom is excited; she hasn't had much chance to come out here lately. She says last time she was here, she hadn't even met my dad yet!"
"What do you think so far?" he asked her curiously. He'd seen her wide-eyed wonder out in the streets, seen the way she'd held out her hands to catch falling snow, but he was curious about what she thought of...well, all of it.
"It's beautiful," she said.
"But?"
"I don't know. It's not...home? Don't get me wrong, I love it here...but there's something about the leaves back home, the orange moon..." She paused and looked at him shyly, as though she'd expressed too much. "The jack'o'lanterns are a nice touch, though. Makes it feel better."
"I feel the same," he said, smiling. "I like visiting, and I'm going to love visiting Mom—not least because I can't wait to see how she and Marin are going to decorate a house together—but Halloween Town is where I belong."
"Where we belong," she said, ducking her head.
He smiled and took her hand. "Exactly."
The organ starts playing then, a strangely haunting rendition of Pachabel's Canon.
"It's time," she said, and quickly took her place next to one of Marin's bridesmaids. "See you soon!"
Scott went to get his mother, who still seemed anxious, but also very excited. "Ready?" he asked.
"Very!" She beamed at him. "Help me with the veil?"
He pulled it forward until it covered her face, and offered her an arm. "Let's get you married."
"Hey," she said, laughing. "You make it sound like you can't wait to be rid of me."
He kissed her cheek through the veil as they walked. "You know that's not true."
"Maybe I don't!"
"Well, then let me tell you," he teased. "I can't wait for you to get out of the house and stop nagging me about laundry..."
"Ha, ha!" she said sarcastically. "I should have made you sit next to Chris at the dinner."
He grimaced at that. "Please, don't." As they reached the start of the aisle, he murmured to her, "Besides, you know I'm kidding. I'm so happy for you, Mom. Even if it means I can't see you every day, I'm still happy you're going to be with somon who makes you so very happy. It means everything to me that you've found someone like Marin."
"Thank you, honey," she said, and he could hear that she was crying, unashamedly.
Marin was standing at the front of the arena, dressed in a silky golden, high-collared dress. It looked lovely on her, though the mostly lovely thing was the way she was gazing at Melissa as she walked down the aisle with Scott. The smile on her face was the gentlest Scott had ever seen.
They reached the end all too soon for the metaphor of what was happening, in Scott's opinion, as he helped his mother up onto the altar with Marin.
It really would be okay, he told himself. His mother had followed him to a new world; he sincerely doubted that she wouldn't cross a single portal to visit.
He certainly wouldn't have a problem coming to see her, and in the meantime, she was going to be so very happy—that much, he thought as he watched his mother and her new wife kiss, was abundantly clear.