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Claudia beamed at her parents as she walked down the stairs.
It was Halloween! How could she not be happy? She was in a costume, and she was going to get candy, and their whole house was covered in streamers and decorations and they had carved pumpkins the other day and Claudia loved Halloween. She had always loved Halloween, for as long as she could remember, which wasn’t all that long. She was only seven. But still, Halloween was the best! There was candy, and costumes, and songs about dancing skeletons. There were spooky movies, and cool decorations, and plastic skulls everywhere. There was pumpkin pie, and a chill in the air, and best of all, a whole night of trick or treating with her dads. And, this year, with her uncles, who had promised to come with them. Halloween was the best.
“How do I look?” Claudia asked, once she reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Hmm,” Daddy Lou said, in a dramatic sorta voice. “I don’t know.”
“Yes,” Daddy Les added, just as dramatically. More dramatically, actually, because Daddy Les was always more dramatic.
“You’ll have to spin for us to be sure,” Daddy Lou added.
Claudia giggled, spinning so that her dress flowed around her.
“See, now that’s much better,” Daddy Lou said. “Now I can see just how pretty your costume is.”
“What a lovely lion you are,” Daddy Les added.
Claudia scowled. Daddy Les had helped her make the costume. There was no way he didn’t know what she was dressed up as. “That’s not what I dressed up as!”
“Is it not?” Daddy Lou said. “Oh, then are you a vampire?”
“No!” Claudia cried out. “That’s what you’re dressed up as! You have fangs and capes and blood!”
“And you don’t have any of that,” Daddy Lou said. “So you can’t possibly be a vampire.”
Claudia nodded. “Uh huh.”
“Then are you a butterfly?” Daddy Les asked.
“No,” Claudia whined.
“A mummy?” Daddy Lou asked.
“Come on!” Claudia cried. “You know what I am! You helped me pick the dress!”
“Oh,” Daddy Les said, drawing out the word dramatically. “I remember now. You’re a doll.”
Claudia grinned. “Uh huh! I’m a doll. A haunted doll!”
“Oh a haunted doll?” Daddy Lou asked. “How scary!”
“Yep!” Claudia said. “I’m going to wait until everyone’s asleep and then kill everyone! That’s what haunted dolls do.”
Daddy Lou laughed. “And where did you hear that?”
“Daddy Les showed me this movie-” Claudia started to say.
“He what?” Daddy Lou asked.
Claudia giggled. “It was really scary!”
“You showed her Chucky?” Daddy Lou hissed. Claudia didn’t know what Chucky was.
“Non!” Daddy Les said. “Non, non. I showed her The Devil-Doll.”
Daddy Lou groaned. “And what the he- heck is that?”
“It is a masterpiece from 1936, mon cher,” Daddy Les said.
“Oh, so you’re not scarring our child,” Daddy Lou replied. “You’re just turning her into a snob.”
“A snob?” Daddy Les asked, even if it didn’t sound like much of a question at all. “Non! I am simply teaching her to appreciate the artistry of the world around her! It is the same reason why I shall be taking her to the theatre to see Phantom of the Opera and to the ballet to see the Nutcracker! It is education, my love.”
“You think Phantom of the Opera is educational?” Daddy Lou asked. “Educating our daughter to trust creepy sewer guys, maybe.”
“That is not what Phantom is about, mon cher!” Daddy Les continued. Claudia had no idea what they were talking about now. “It is a masterful piece of theatre depicting obsessive love and-”
And then the doorbell rang, cutting off Daddy Les.
Thankfully, because Claudia didn’t want to have to hear any more of that. She had no idea what a Phantom was, or why Daddy Les wanted to show her it, or why Daddy Lou was against that. And, either way, she didn’t care. Because the doorbell rang! And sure, Claudia didn’t know for sure who it was, but she had a feeling. It could have been trick or treaters, or their neighbours, or one of those people who come to sell stuff, but Claudia knew that it wasn’t. She ran to the door, with Daddy Lou close behind. She wasn’t technically old enough to open the door by herself yet, apparently, so instead she had to wait for Daddy Lou to catch up to her. But he did, finally. You’d think he’d be faster, with those long grown up legs he had.
Still, Daddy Lou opened the door to-
“Uncle ‘Mand!” Claudia yelled out. “Uncle Danny! You’re here!”
“Of course we are here, mon petit oiseau,” Uncle Armand said, as he pulled her into a hug. “We did promise, did we not?”
“How could we miss trick or treating with you?” Uncle Danny added. “It’s the best.”
They were right. It was the best. Halloween was always the best. Although-
“Where is your costume, Uncle Danny?” Claudia asked. “You’re supposed to dress up for Halloween, you know.”
“I’m a journalist,” Uncle Danny said.
“But you’re always a reporter,” Claudia whined. “You’re supposed to be dressed up like Daddy Lou and Daddy Les are! They’re vampires!”
“What if I said I was a vampire journalist?” Daniel asked.
Claudia frowned. “You don’t have any fangs, though.”
“Or do I?” Uncle Danny said, leaning closer to Claudia. “I’m hiding them. To lure in unsuspecting humans and drink them up!”
Claudia giggled. “I guess that’s okay, then.”
“Thank you,” Uncle Daniel said.
“And what are you supposed to be Uncle ‘Mand?” Claudia asked, turning to stare up at him. He was wearing a big white dress, or something, with little purple bits. She didn’t know what it was meant to be.
“I’m dressed as a roman emperor,” Uncle Armand said in his funny accent.
“And that means you have to wear a dress?” Claudia asked.
“It’s a toga,” Uncle Armand corrected.
Claudia shrugged. “I think it’s a dress. And that means we’re matching.”
“It’s not a dress,” Uncle Armand said again. “It is a toga. Specifically a toga picta,
“Dress,” Claudia said, smiling as she did.
“Toga,” Uncle Armand corrected.
“Armand, stop fighting with a seven year old,” Uncle Danny said.
“Claudia, stop taunting your uncle,” Uncle Lou added. “I know you know what you’re doing.”
“Non,” Daddy Les said. “Keep going. The gremlin deserves it.”
Claudia smiled even wider. “It’s a dress!”
“Claudia, stop,” Daddy Lou said. “And Lestat, you stop too. You’re supposed to be more mature than a seven year old.”
“But where is the fun in that, mon cher?” Daddy Les asked.
“Yes,” Uncle Armand said. “Where is the fun in that?”
“It’s called being the bigger person,” Uncle Danny said.
Claudia didn’t know what being bigger than someone had to do with Uncle Armand’s dress.
“Okay, okay,” Daddy Lou said. He clapped his hands together. “We should get out and start trick or treating before it gets too late for you, doll.”
“No such thing as too late,” Claudia said, pouting. “I’m going to stay up all night!”
“All night?” Uncle Armand asked. “Are you nocturnal, mon petit oiseau?”
Claudia nodded aggressively. “Yep! I’m noctral!”
“Nocturnal,” Uncle Danny corrected, even though that was what Claudia had said anyway.
“No, you’re not,” Daddy Les said. “You fall asleep quite easily.”
“Nuh uh,” Claudia said.
“Either way,” Daddy Lou said, staring at Claudia like he did when she was being too silly. “Shouldn’t we go and start getting as much candy as we can now, anyway?”
Claudia gasped. She had almost forgotten that part of Halloween. “Candy! Yes! We have to leave right now! Right. Now.”
“You heard the little lady,” Daddy Lou said. “Let’s get trick or treating.”
Apparently, they couldn’t immediately leave the house. They had to get shoes on. And coats on, because it was ‘too cold’ for Claudia to just wear her doll dress outside. Her jacket covered up most of her costume, which was absolutely terrible. And she had to wear gloves too. Rude. Then she had to remember where she put her trick or treating bag, which had fun little ghosts on it. And then Daddy Les had to find his jacket, because he had somehow managed to lose his, too. And then there was some sort of argument about which direction they should start trick or treating in, which Claudia didn’t pay attention to. And then-
And then, finally, they left the house and started down the street.
There were so many decorations out. Pumpkins and skeletons and ghosts and witches and gravestones everywhere! And, yeah, Claudia had seen them before, when she’d come home from school, and a lot of them had been up for a few weeks at this point, but she didn’t care. It all felt so special, because it was Halloween! There were a ton of kids already, running from doorstep to doorstep. They had a bowl of candy on their doorstep, for all the other kids coming to their house, even though Claudia wished that she could just keep all the candy. But whatever. Daddy Lou had told her that sharing was important, and Daddy Les promised she could keep any candy that was left. Besides, she was going to get way more candy by being outside, anyway. She ran to the first house, racing past the jack o'lanterns on their porch, and knocking on their door. They had chips as well as chocolate, which was so cool.
Claudia grinned to herself. This was the best day ever. Maybe even better than her birthday.
She ran to the next house, knowing that her dads and her uncles were right behind her. Uncle Armand and Daddy Les were talking about something she didn’t understand, but Daddy Les was calling Armand a gremlin and Uncle Armand was calling Les a heathen, so she was pretty sure it was going well. And Daddy Lou and Uncle Danny were talking about old people music, or something, but Uncle Danny wasn’t distracting him enough because Daddy Lou was still yelling at her to be careful of the cars. But Claudia was being careful of the road, thank you very much. She just also wanted to get to the next house. They had a cool skeleton in the driveway!
Yeah, Claudia thought, this was definitely better than her birthday.