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« Do you know about the white woman?”, Margaery asked the children sitting in front of her. “She is said to be a witch who lives in the forest and comes back in town each year on Halloween to choose a few children she eats for dinner…”
The woman tickled her fingers into the air, barring her teeth in a false menacing manner. Sansa was smiling from her position in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest. Her wife was such a dork.
“Oh, but don’t look at me like that, this is real!”, the brunette woman tried to convince the blasé-looking pirate staring at her from the couch. “You won’t be looking so smug and confident when she comes and throws you into her giant frying pan during the night.”
“F-Frying pan?”
The three-year-old butterfly was visibly tearing up beside her siblings. She was sucking her thumb nervously, looking up at Sansa for reassurance. “Mommy?”
The read head went and picked the toddler up, sending a stern look Margaery’s way.
“It’s nothing baby”, she cooed, “Frying pans are funny. Remember in Tangled?” Then, whispering to Margaery, “You’re so the one putting her to bed tonight.”
She left the room, more amused than mad, still comforting their baby daughter with whispered stories of fairies and mushrooms.
“Okay, so Butterfly and mom are out, now we can talk business. How much do you guys have?”
The pirate put her bag on the table, but kept it close for the time being.
“You first”, she motioned for Margaery to open hers.
The brunette hesitated, squinting her eyes at the girl, suspicious.
“You’re difficult”, she said with a grunt. “Okay. I’ll go first. But then you guys need to play fair.”
She stared into two pair of shining eyes, waiting for both of their little heads to nod before she focused back on her treasure. Margaery put her pirate sword aside on the table and put both hands around the bag, making a show out of opening it.
“Dun, dun, dun”, the nine year-old sang.
Margaery did it in one swift move, revealing what she had gathered.
“Not bad, Captain, not bad”, her daughter stated as she looked over the candy filled bag. “But we did better. Right, comrade?”
The five year-old nodded adorably, clapping her little hands together in excitement.
“Yes, we have a lot”, she said in her cute high-pitched voice, “Nanna even gave us lollipops! And – oh, do you want to see our chocolate bars, Mamma? I got two!!!”
Margaery couldn’t help but break out of character and smile at the adorable slip up from her daughter.
“No, you can’t say Mamma, you have to say Captain, remember?”, the older sibling scolded her sister.
“Well”, Margaery interrupted it before it turned into an argument, “I sure would like to see them. Remember our deal. We all have to share.”
The older little pirate placed their huge bag on the table solemnly.
“Are you ready to feel the weight of your defeat?”
Margaery barely held back a laugh at her daughter’s behavior, scolding her features back to neutral before the two girls had time to spot her amusement.
“I am. Go ahead.”
Theatrically slow, the oldest child opened the bag, her sister hoisting herself up on her elbows to take a look at the treasure lying inside.
When Margaery’s eyes widened in genuine surprise, she was greeted by a proud smirk from one, and a very cute “tada!” from the other. There was a lot of candy.
“Uh…Okay, one shall admit when defeated. I do have to say, you win”, she tried to stop herself from smiling, but it was hard to look upset when two of her favorite people in the world where jumping on their feet, screaming their joy and victory.
Watching them giggle to each other, Margaery couldn’t help but think that if those smiles were to light up her little girls’ faces every time they beat her in a game, she would gladly loose every day for the rest of her life.
***
Later that night, after getting that awful pumpkin soup down her throat ( “it’s healthy, Margaery” ) and trying to convince Sansa she had won the contest, the Captain helped the sailors – and the butterfly – out of their costumes before she could tuck her daughters into bed.
“I was serious”, she told the oldest one when she kissed her forehead, smoothing the covers over her small form. “Beware the white witch, Avery.” Younger blue eyes sparkled, and tapped her shoulder playfully.
The two shared a giggle and a few more kisses before the mother was turning the light off and walking into the next room.
“Hey, sweet girl”, Margaery cooed when she approached the five year-old’s bed. “Are you going to have pretty dreams?”
She sat on the side of the bed, watching the adorable girl rubbing her eyes with her little palms.
“I am – yawn – Captain.”
Margaery giggled. “Halloween’s over baby, Captain had to leave. But she can come back. If you liked it, you can be a pirate again next year. You could even be the Captain. What do you think?”
“It’s over?”, the child started tearing up. “But – Can we still eat the candy tomorrow if it’s not Halloween?”
“Oh, don’t cry, of course we can Lea”, Margaery caressed her dark locks tenderly, watching pouty lips – Sansa’s lips – turn back into a sleepy smile.
“Yay”, she yawned, eyes half closed. “Maybe next year we can all be pirates. Or fairies. Or both.”
Lea’s blue eyes filled with stars at the thought.
“That’s such a good idea honey”, Margaery kissed the crown of her hair. “But you’ll have to convince Mom and Evany. Good luck with that.”
The woman didn’t get an answer, for the child was already asleep, so she slipped out of the room on the tip of her toes. When she entered the last bedroom, all pink walls covered with princesses, she smiled and stopped to watch the scene unfolding before her.
There were butterfly wings and a pretty pink dress hanged by the window, a toddler nestled under huge purple covers, and a beautiful woman reading to the soundly sleeping infant.
Margaery walked up to them slowly as to not wake the little girl, sneaking her arms around her wife’s waist and planting her face in her silky soft hair.
“They won, didn’t they?”
The lack of an answer had Sansa giggling silently.
“I knew you were lying earlier. You sore loser.”
The red head turned around, kissing her softly on the lips before they both made their way to their bedroom, cuddling up to each other under the thick covers. The younger woman was starting to doze off when she felt her wife shift against her.
“I can’t wait for next year”, Margaery whispered into her neck.
“I swear, I actually have four kids”, Sansa laughed adoringly. “Eat all that candy we hunted before you go on another quest, Captain.”
Margaery blushed under her wife’s knowing smirk, kissing her shoulder to hide her red cheeks.
“I hope there will be some left for us if Butterfly gets to it first”, Margaery grinned fondly. “She’s a sugar monster. I wonder how much candy she can fit in those chubby cheeks of hers. Probably record breaking.”
“Her name is Evany, and you should have some respect. ‘Those chubby cheeks of hers’ are the reason you even got this much candy in the first place”, she nuzzled her nose into Margaery’s hair. “I can’t believe she wouldn’t wear the pirate costume. That one’s stubborn.”
“She is”, Margaery stated confidently. “She’s trouble, I’m telling you. Just like her mother.”
They shared tender grins before a comfortable silence started settling nicely between the two, inviting sleep to their door…Until a little voice ran from the doorway.
“Mom, Mamma, what if the white witch chooses to eat me?”
Someone groaned, someone got hit on the head, and Margaery was sent out of bed to comfort her daughter. This was her problem.