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Arthur looked out the bay window and watched Oliver feeding the crows from a bag of old bread. There were at least twenty of the big birds stalking about cawing loudly, fighting for the pieces Oliver threw to them. For some reason, Oliver loved the noisy things. Off to the side on the lawn, Henry threw the football up in the air and ran to catch it. A blustery gust of wind sent leaves skittering across the pavement of the long driveway and a dark cloud momentarily blotted out the sun.
“I hope the rain holds off,” Arthur said. He brought his coffee cup to his lips and took a sip.
“Should do.” Merlin finished packing various candies into a bowl and set it aside on the table next to the candle shaped like a pumpkin.
“You know we probably won’t give any of that candy out, don’t you?” Arthur asked. “We’ll be out trick or treating with the kids.”
“We might come back in time,” Merlin said. “I don’t want to be empty-handed if kids come to our door.”
“We could always give them that.” Arthur gestured to a bowl full of fruit, and Merlin wrinkled his nose.
“Arthur! No kid wants fruit on Halloween! They’ll egg our house!” He shook his head despairingly at his husband.
“Remember when our Halloweens consisted of going to Gwaine’s and getting shitfaced?” Arthur asked.
“Those were the good old days, yeah?”
Arthur set his cup down and took Merlin in his arms.
“Not half as good as these days,” he said into Merlin’s neck, enjoying the way Merlin shivered and went all noodle-limp in his arms.
“Dad! Da!” The boys came running in, slamming the back door so hard, the windows rattled.
“God, can’t we have just five minutes?” Merlin moaned against Arthur’s shoulder.
“Oliver! Henry! What have I said about slamming doors?” Arthur looked sternly down at their identical twin boys and the trail of dirt and leaves they’d left in their wake.
“Sorry.” Henry pushed a stray lock of curly brown hair out of his hazel eyes. It used to be difficult to tell them apart, but now Henry had lost a front tooth, it was easy, as long as he had his mouth was open. Arthur could only hope Oliver wouldn’t lose the same tooth before Henry’s adult tooth grew in.
“Can we start getting ready?” Oliver asked.
“It’s a little early,” Merlin said, pushing the boy’s hair out of his eyes.
“Not really. My vampire make-up’s going to take ages!”
“I think Aunty Morgana’s going to help with that,” Arthur said. “You know your Da and I are pants at doing that kind of thing.” When they’d first adopted the boys as infants, Arthur and Merlin had had long conversations about what the twins would call them in order to avoid confusion. Arthur was adamant that he wouldn’t be called “Father,” as it reminded him of his crap relationship with Uther. Merlin had solved the problem by saying the boys could call him “Da,” as they do in his native Ireland.
“When’s she going to get here?” Henry asked.
“Why don’t you ring her?” Arthur smiled slyly while handing over his mobile. Merlin nudged him in the ribs.
“That wasn’t very nice.”
Arthur chuckled as he listened to Oliver and Henry chattering simultaneously into the mobile, begging Morgana to hurry over with her theatre makeup.
She arrived a few hours later and sequestered herself and the boys in the large bathroom with the vanity, not coming out until she’d created a little vampire and werewolf.
“Brilliant!” Merlin said. “You two are scary!”
“I am going to drink your blood,” Oliver said to Henry in a sinister voice.
“No, I’m going to rip your head off!” Henry growled at his brother.
“Henry, that’s a little too violent,” Arthur said.
As they sat at the kitchen table eating stew and apple pie, the doorbell rang no less than six times. Merlin flashed Arthur I told you so looks each time before grabbing his carefully arranged bowl of candy and getting up to answer it.
“Have fun, boys,” Morgana said as she sailed out the door to meet her date.
“Put on your glow-in-the-dark necklaces.” Arthur handed them to Oliver and Henry.
“Aw, Dad! Boys don’t wear necklaces.” Oliver pouted, but obeyed and slipped it over his head.
“Who says?” Merlin raised a brow. “Boys can wear necklaces if they want.”
“Yeah, Uncle Gwaine wears a big gold one!” Henry nodded. “And he’s cool.”
Merlin and Arthur met each other’s gazes over the boys’ heads and smiled.
By the time they’d gone all the way around the circle, the boys’ pillow cases were full, and they each had Mrs. Fullerton’s chocolate chip cookies smeared around their mouths.
“Let’s go up this street!” Oliver pointed.
“Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” Arthur asked. His feet hurt, and it was frankly terrifying walking the boys around with all the traffic. There was no moon that night and pitch dark, and people drove like maniacs.
“You never used to be so cranky about peoples’ driving habits,” Merlin noted with a teasing smile.
“We didn’t used to have two beautiful children to protect,” Arthur said before yelling, “Slow down, you arses!” at a passing car.
Henry bounced up and down on his feet.
“No! It’s early, come on, Dad! We can’t go home yet!”
“We have to go by the spooky house,” Oliver added, pulling on Arthur’s hand while Henry practically dragged Merlin up past the street sign.
Merlin shrugged and allowed himself to be pulled, and Arthur couldn’t do anything but follow along, Oliver’s small hand clasped in his own.
It was late by the time they made it back to the house. Arthur carried an exhausted Oliver in his arms, but Henry skipped up the drive with his endless exuberant energy.
“Didn’t we leave a light on?” Merlin asked, looking up at the dark windows.
“I thought we did,” Arthur said. “At least the downstairs hall light. Maybe the bulb blew out.” He hefted Oliver higher in his arms and walked up the front porch steps behind Merlin and Henry. “Fuck, he’s getting heavy.”
“Dad! Lang-u-age!” Henry peered up at his father from under his fringe.
“Sorry.”
Merlin stifled a laugh. He reached for the doorknob, but before he could open it, the door suddenly burst open and two black-clad figures jumped out with loud, creepy growls.
Arthur stumbled back, barely catching himself with a hand on the banister. Oliver awoke and rubbed his eyes while Merlin yelled an impressive string of curse words when a laughing Gwaine pulled off a mask and doubled up in laughter.
“You fucking WANKERS!” Arthur said on an exhale, hand to his heart. The other mischief-maker could only be Percy, considering his height and build Oliver slithered down Arthur’s body and ran for his uncles while Henry laughed uproariously.
“That was awesome! You should have seen our dads’ faces!” Oliver yelled.
“Oh, we saw them!” Percy laughed, taking off the hideous mask he’d been wearing to reveal hair plastered to his head with sweat. “What took you so long? We’ve been crouching in the dark for an hour.”
“How the hell did you get in?” Merlin asked.
“You gave me the spare key, remember?” Gwaine dangled it in Merlin’s face. Merlin swiped at it, trying to grab it back, but Gwaine jumped away laughing.
“That was a mistake, clearly,” Merlin said.
“Aw, come on, Merls. Be a sport.” Gwaine made a pouty face and chucked Merlin in the chin, but Merlin smacked his hand away.
“Merlin doesn’t care for pranks,” Arthur said, putting an arm around his husband and drawing him to him. He pressed a kiss to Merlin’s temple. “Now you’re on his bad side.”
Merlin really did look angry. Gwaine glanced at Percy.
“We’re sorry, Merls,” Percy said. “We were only having some fun for the sake of the kids. It is Halloween.”
Oliver and Henry ran inside to dump their candy in a pile on the living room floor and sift through it.
“My heart still hurts.” Merlin frowned, walking into the foyer.
Gwaine looked to Arthur, who only shrugged.
“How can we make it up to you?” Percy asked. “Come on, Merlin, there must be a way.”
Merlin glanced at Arthur.
“Well, you could take the boys for the night.”
“Hurrah!” Oliver yelled from the living room, followed closely by Henry’s exuberant, “Yessss!”
“They have the ears of bats,” Gwaine mumbled.
“No problem, we’ll take them,” Percy said, earning him an astonished look from Gwaine. “I’m sure you two would like to hump all night like bunnies.”
“You’re going to dress up like bunnies?” Henry asked, coming to beside them.
“Erm, yeah,” Merlin said. “In honour of Halloween.”
“Bunnies are dumb,” Oliver said around a huge lolly. “Why can’t you be something cooler?”
“We’ll think about it,” Arthur said, ruffling Oliver’s hair.
“Go pack your bags,” Merlin told them and the boys clamoured up the stairs. Merlin turned to Gwaine. “Don’t let them eat too much candy.”
“Or watch those horrid slasher films you like,” Arthur added.
“You two became such duds when you had kids.”Gwaine rolled his eyes.
“Time you grew up,” Arthur said. “When are you going to make an honest man of Percy, here?”
Percy blushed, and Gwaine put his arm around him.
“Maybe sooner than you think.”
The boys rushed down the stairs again, backpacks in their hands.
“We’re ready!” Oliver yelled, and Gwaine winced.
“I guess getting legless at the pubs is out,” he said.
“Definitely out,” Merlin said. He and Arthur stood watching them go and waving at the boys until Percy’s car disappeared around the curve of the drive.
“Alone at last,” Arthur said, and drew Merlin into a long kiss. “I loved the way you roped Percy into taking the kids.”
“I can be pretty devious when I want to be,” Merlin said with a laugh. “But so can you. You went right along with it. Merlin doesn’t like pranks. Where did that come from?”
Arthur scooped Merlin up over his shoulder and carried him up the staircase while Merlin wiggled and squealed in protest.
“What can I say? We work well together, Mr Pendragon,” Arthur said as he handed Merlin on his feet on the landing.
“That we do, Mr Pendragon.” Merlin wrapped his arms around Arthur’s neck. “That we do.”
---End---