Work Text:
Twas the night before Halloween, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring; not even a…moth?
Decorations were hung through the mansion with care,
With pumpkins and ghosties and bats everywhere.
With Nathalie, Adrien, Gabriel too,
The air of festivity felt too good to be true.
Father looked up at his son on a ladder,
And suddenly felt something big was the matter.
“Where’d Nathalie go?” he asked from below.
The boy paused in his hanging and said, “I don’t know.”
Then suddenly an echoing crash down the hall,
Making lit candles flicker and two heartbeats stall.
A chilly wind moaned and the old shutters clattered
And Adrien quickly descended his ladder.
“We have to go find her. Make sure she’s all right.
I have a bad feeling on this spooky night.”
Gabriel quite agreed, and followed his son,
But he couldn’t quite shake that it wouldn’t be fun.
A fizzle, a snap, a strangled sharp shout,
The overheads flickered and the lights went out.
“A ghost! There’s a ghost!” Adrien gave a shout,
And turned to his father with eyes full of doubt.
Gabriel felt uneasy, but tried to reassure,
He took his son’s hand so they’d feel more secure.
And up through the blackness they felt down the walls
To make their way carefully, slow, down the halls.
Then suddenly, footsteps came up from behind.
They turned, and a ghostly gray figure they’d find.
“Aaaa!” They screamed, and leapt towards each other,
Adrien whimpered something ‘bout wanting his mother.
When what, to their wondering eyes did appear?
Nathalie in the flesh, saying “Don’t worry, I’m here.
I had to go find the spare box of décor,
And tripped in the attic and fell to the floor,
Running into the fuse box in my stumbling way,
And the lights went out…I’m clumsy, okay?”
No you’re not, the boy mused. He couldn’t help but think,
Had she planned this again? And she gave him a wink.
But of course she had, and her plan had succeeded.
More father-son bonding was just what they needed.
They stood in the darkness, no longer so scared
For the person they missed was safe, and there.
All at once came together and tightly embraced,
‘Twas the night before Halloween, not a fear in the place.