Chapter Text
“Good morning,” Mark said to Elizabeth after he came downstairs. “Sorry…yes, I know; I overslept again. I’ll make the coffee as a way to serve my penance.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek and took Ella so Elizabeth could squeeze in a quick breakfast, starting the coffee maker with his free arm.
“Thank you,” she replied. “And since it’s your day off, I’ll cut you some slack, not to mention I’m both excited and curious to hear about your special plans for the weekend. But before we go there, what are you and Ella up to today?”
“Well, it’s almost the end of the first week of October, and you have no Halloween decorations in this house—”
“Me?! I didn’t know I was solely responsible for choosing and buying all the decorations, plus singlehandedly putting them up.”
“Be patient. I didn’t finish the rest of my thought. Now, I know Halloween has never been that big of a deal for you, but I think that since it’s Ella’s first Halloween we should go all out, you know? So, I’m taking her shopping today to find some decorations, and I thought when you came home tonight that she could stay up a little later and we could have a decorating party. Don’t worry; we won’t put up anything scary.
“The second part of the fun will come tomorrow. I think we should all go to a corn maze.”
“A what?” Elizabeth asked.
“A corn maze. I guess they didn’t have those over in England.” He grinned, and she rolled her eyes at him. He always loved to tease her about what he believed she experienced or didn’t in the UK, as if she had moved to Chicago from another planet.
“Well, no,” she admitted. “Not that I’ve heard of, anyway.”
“It’s like a normal maze, except it’s in a cornfield and you have to read clues to find your way out. Now, there are some that are bigger than others, but being that Ella can’t walk yet and Rachel will complain the entire time that this is the stupidest thing she’s ever done, I found a smaller one that’s more equipped for little kids. The big ones can take half an hour or 45 minutes to get through, but we should be done with this one in about 20 minutes. So we’ll just be pushing Ella in her stroller and maybe we can stop for some pictures along the way.”
“That sounds lovely, actually. I’m looking forward to the new challenge. And I can’t wait to see what decorations you pick out.”
“And one other thing,” he said. “We have to decide on our family Halloween costume.”
“Oh, if Rachel hates us now, she’s going to be even more annoyed when we tell her she has to wear a themed costume to coordinate with her father and stepmother."
Part of the reason why Elizabeth loved Mark was that he did not disappoint when it came to holidays or doing nice things for the family just because. And the Halloween decorating party the night before was everything she imagined it being. Even Rachel had come out of her room to put the Halloween wreath on the front door and help Mark stuff a scarecrow that would sit on the porch. Elizabeth had mostly worked on the inside of the house, putting up pumpkin decorations and Halloween signs, including a picture of a witch’s cauldron in the kitchen. That, however, was the scariest it got. They didn’t want Ella to feel put off or afraid.
Now, they were headed off to the corn maze. They decided on the way that after they finished their quest, they would refuel with some ice cream.
“All right everyone, we have to pass the time in here somehow,” Mark declared once they had entered the maze. “So while we’re looking for clues, we need to decide what we’re going to be for Halloween.”
“Dad, please; no matching costumes.” Rachel groaned.
“And yes, we are going to have a family costume!” he replied, choosing to ignore any protest she might stage. Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes, but Elizabeth just smiled, knowing that was going to be the reaction they’d receive.
“I agree with your father,” she chimed in, deciding to roll with it. “I know it sounds corny, but I’ve never gotten to do a couples costume or a family costume before. It will be fun, and it’s Ella’s first Halloween, so I thought if we all dressed up together, she’ll appreciate it even more someday when she’s old enough to see and understand her baby pictures.”
“Whatever you say, Elizabeth.” Rachel said. “Can we do something cool, though, so you guys don’t embarrass me at school?”
“Us? Embarrass you at school? Never!” Mark replied, just as Elizabeth gasped out.
“Are you OK?” he asked. But before she could answer him back, he noticed a black cat looking at them. Well, it was actually someone dressed like a cat who was trying to hug Elizabeth. The sight even made Rachel giggle.
“Ella, look,” Rachel said to her little sister. “It’s a kitty cat. He wants to say hello.” The actor knelt down next to Ella’s stroller, and Rachel took her hand so she could interact with the “cat,” who waved hello in return.
“I was just going to say I think we hit a dead end,” Elizabeth pointed out. “But I guess that’s not such a bad thing. Tell me, black cat, how do we get out of here?” She looked up at the cornstalks momentarily, observing that they wouldn’t be able to walk any further. The cat pointed behind him and to the left, and then looked down at Mark’s camera, making excited gestures to the family.
“Should we get a picture?” Mark asked.
“Yeah, come on!” Rachel agreed. “It’ll be fun for Ella.”
After they took the picture with the cat and started walking back towards the maze path, stopping to admire some of the other decorations along the trail, Elizabeth handed over the stroller to Rachel so she could hold hands with Mark and enjoy some quiet time with him.
“So, where were we?” she asked. “Family costume, right?”
“Do you have any ideas?”
“Well, I thought Ella could be Cinderella and Rachel could be the wicked stepmother. Then I could be the fairy godmother.”
“And I would go as Prince Charming. But he has hair, so that probably wouldn’t work too well.”
“We could do other Disney characters. You were saying how you want to take the girls to Disney World someday. I think either Rachel or Ella would make a cute Minnie.”
“No way!” Rachel interrupted. “I don’t want to be Minnie. Ella can wear mouse ears and a frilly skirt and stuff. Maybe I could be the evil queen from Snow White.”
“You are not being the evil queen and scaring your little sister.” Mark pushed back. “She’s not even a year old.”
“I don’t think we’re going to come to an agreement on this topic today,” Elizabeth finally said. “We still have time. I’m sure we’ll find something adorable for Ella no matter what. After all, it’s really more about her, and I’m fine with not dressing up. Although, it was fun to be Little Red Riding Hood a few years ago.”
“I’m sure you looked adorable; I wish I’d seen it.” Mark smiled and squeezed her arm.
“Oh, it was something else. I had the dress, the clogs, my hair in braids. It was a pity I had to go into surgery and take the costume off for the rest of the night. I wanted to really experience an American Halloween. But I’m glad I never went to a haunted house or anything. I don’t think we’re missing out by not going to one. I am, however, looking forward to that ice cream.
“And for what it’s worth, I think we’re really getting the hang of navigating this thing.”
“Hey, I think we’re almost to the end!” Rachel said. She pointed to a pop-up hand directing them straight ahead, and sure enough, they walked back out to another corner of the maze that led to the rest of the shopping village. “Could we still have ice cream now?”
“Sure.” Mark agreed. “Let’s head inside. Then after we’re done, we can hit up the gift shop before we go home if you want to get yourself a souvenir or pick something out for Ella too. In fact, all of my girls can have any souvenirs or trinkets they want. I’m paying.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“This was a really good idea today.” Elizabeth said as they watched Rachel continue to push Ella’s stroller into the ice cream shop. “Even Rachel was mostly on her best behavior. What drugs did you give her with her breakfast?”
“Nothing special. I talked with her when you were getting Ella ready and asked her to at least try and pretend she could have a good time. Being around her sister seems to mellow her out at least temporarily, though.
“By the way, I’m thinking that one day next week, we need to carve and decorate pumpkins. So, start thinking about what will look good on our front porch and make all the neighbors jealous. And don’t be afraid to bring me more ideas for our costume. I’ll keep trying to figure it out too.”
“I can get behind that. And for now, I think I’d like an apple pie sundae. Oh, and it says two can share.”
“No pun intended, but it sounds like a sweet deal to me.”