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“Eddie!”
Buck’s voice rings out from the corner bedroom across the house, drifting out to Eddie where he’s standing in the kitchen.
“Do you know where the tail feathers went?”
Eddie snorts as he steps into the hallway, peering down the hall to see his husband peeking out of Lucas’ bedroom with an expectant, waiting look on his face.
“Not something you hear every day,” Eddie grins.
Buck rolls his eyes. “Do you know where they are or not?”
Eddie smiles. “Hold on,” he says. “I think I do.”
He ducks back into the living room and scans the space. He’s sure he saw what Buck is looking for a little while ago, somewhere amongst the other signs of the season.
Admittedly, there are a lot of those. It’s Halloween evening and the house is fragrant with the cookies Buck had made earlier: not his usual homemade variety, but a little dose of nostalgia in the form of the sugar cookies with little designs on them from the refrigerator section in the grocery store. On the mantle, all of Eddie’s usual October fare: the picture frames adorned with little spiders and orange tinsel draped from the mantlepiece; the same cheerful little skeletons as always arranged in funny positions amongst them. There are pumpkin throw pillows on the sofa and a little bowl shaped like a black cat. And outside, Eddie is aware that there are two jack-o-lanterns in the front— slowly but surely rotting despite their best efforts to preserve them since they carved them with Lucas last week.
And, there— on the floor slightly obscured by a cloth basket of Lucas’ blocks— the tail feathers. Eddie bends over to get them and emerges triumphant in the hallway, holding them up to Buck.
“Got it!” he says as he makes his way into Lucas’ bedroom.
The sight here is even more adorable than anything the cutesy living room decor has to offer. Buck has ducked back into the room with its soft yellow walls and Lucas’ toddler bed; and in the center of the room on his sunshine-shaped rug, Buck is on one knee in front of Lucas himself, dressed in his Halloween costume: a duck, minus tail feathers.
“I think you’re missing this, duckling,” Eddie laughs, crouching down also to be level with his husband and their son.
Lucas lights up, peeking out at him from beneath the feathery front of the hat on his head.
“You found my tail!” he exclaims, bouncing in excitement in such a way that makes the bright yellow feathers on his costume shimmy. Eddie laughs, nodding his head.
“I did,” he says. “Hold still, okay? I’ll help you put it on.” He fastens Lucas’ tail to his costume with the little strap around his waist and smiles at him. “All done!” he says.
Lucas jumps on his tippy-toes, vibrating with excitement and putting his hands instinctively on Buck to steady himself. Eddie catches the way his husband smiles, that soft and tender look on his face that never fails to make Eddie feel soft, too.
“Can we go?” Lucas pleads, looking between them.
Buck glances down at the watch on his wrist and then up at Eddie, blue eyes lit up and warm. “I don’t know,” he says, teasing, looking back to Lucas. “You’ll have to ask Dad.”
Lucas turns his full attention on Eddie, almost knocking him off-balance where he’s crouching down as he plants his little hands on Eddie’s knees.
“Dad?” he asks, all bright eyes and hopeful little face.
Eddie laughs softly, reaching out to scoop him up as he gets to his feet. “Yes, honey,” he says. “We can go.”
Lucas cheers and Eddie kisses him on his cheek before setting him back down on his feet. “Can you go find your shoes for me?” he asks, and the words are barely out of his mouth before Lucas is racing off to the front door where his sneakers are, tail and all. Eddie smiles and offers a hand to Buck to help him up, which his husband takes as he gets off of Lucas’ floor.
“Knee okay?” Eddie checks, watching Buck’s face for any sign of the pain flare he’d been having yesterday.
But Buck’s features are at ease and warm, and his smile is soft as he squeezes Eddie’s hand. “All good,” he assures him, then taps him lightly on his chest against the soft fabric of his t-shirt. “Where’s your sweater?”
Eddie rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “Relax,” he says. “It’s right by the door. I will not be leaving the house without it, I promise.”
Buck smiles, pleased, and leans in far enough to brush a sweet kiss against Eddie’s mouth.
“Daddy!” Lucas calls impatiently from the other room, and Buck huffs a warm laugh that ghosts over Eddie’s jaw.
“We’ll pick that up later,” he says with a flicker of a grin that’s just for Eddie, and then he squeezes his waist and steps out of the room with Eddie following behind.
From there, it’s a flurry of latching the Velcro on Lucas’ light-up shoes; triple-checking that the porch light is turned off so as not to mislead any stray trick-or-treaters; making sure all of Lucas’ costume is in place and that he has his trick-or-treating bag; and for Eddie, slipping his Halloween sweater over his head to layer it on top of his t-shirt.
When he emerges from the top of it, Buck is already beaming at him. The sweaters had been his idea— he’d come home with them a couple of weeks ago, excitedly indulging in the holiday and explaining to Eddie that they could wear them trick-or-treating. Eddie smiles back at him now as he runs a hand through his hair to put it back into place, some of it falling softly back down onto his forehead.
There’s a version of him— one that doesn’t see the light of day anymore— who wouldn’t believe a word of it. One kid thriving in college; another one that he’d planned for who lights up every day; and a husband who buys them matching sweaters, taking the pumpkin one for himself and making Eddie wear the one with little ghosts on it because he thinks it’s funny.
But it is his now. And much more real than anything haunted.
“Alright,” Eddie says, lifting an unsuspecting Lucas easily into one arm and making him squeal with delight. “Let’s go get some candy for the little duck!”
They’ve picked a neighborhood between their two homes as a place to meet up with Chim, Maddie, and the Han children. It’s a perfect solution— both of their neighborhoods are kind of quiet on Halloween, because they’re populated mostly by families and everyone is out with their own children. But this area is populated mostly by older people and gets plenty of foot traffic, making it a perfect trick-or-treating spot.
They’ve barely gotten Lucas out of the car and safely perched in Buck’s arms when they’re greeted by a blur of pink and blue— Jee-Yun and Jae, racing ahead of their parents on the sidewalk hand in hand and wearing matching princess costumes, complete with cone-shaped hats affixed with tulle streamers that threaten to fall off of their heads as they run.
Eddie can’t help but grin at the sight of them, Jee breathless and her little brother beaming.
“Hi, Jee!” he enthuses, bending down to hug both of them as Lucas squirms excitedly in Buck’s arms at the sight of his cousins. “Hi, JaeJae!” Eddie adds. “Look at you two!”
Jee-Yun, now almost nine and every bit as effervescent and charming as ever, throws her arms out and performs a wide twirl.
“We’re medieval princesses,” she informs them as Jae attaches himself to Buck, reaching up to high-five Lucas repeatedly, sending both of them into peals of giggles.
“You both look amazing,” Eddie gushes, crouching down and examining Jee’s dress as she reaches for her brother and steers him close to Eddie, presumably so that he can see both dresses side by side. “I love your costumes.”
“Tell Uncle Eddie who we have to thank for that,” Maddie prompts as she and Chim join them, tapping Jee lightly and reaching out to re-situate Jae’s hat on his head.
Jee-Yun beams at Eddie. “Mara!” she says proudly. “She did them for us!”
Eddie looks up at Maddie. “Mara made these?” he asks, and Maddie nods.
“Isn’t that crazy?” she laughs, shaking her head a little. “She’s insane with that sewing machine. Karen says they’re going to have to designate a sewing room soon.”
Eddie smiles, looking up in time to catch Chim lifting his mask off of his face to avoid scaring Lucas, then smiling and waving at the three-year-old.
“And what’s Dad?” he asks, looking back at Jee-Yun.
“Ghostface!” Jae supplies helpfully.
Jee rolls her eyes. “It’s old,” she says sassily, glancing back at Chim with a pointed look.
Maddie sighs, shaking her head in Eddie’s direction. “So I’ve been hearing all afternoon,” she laments as he grins, glancing over at Chimney.
“She’s not wrong,” he points out.
“Classic, Diaz,” Chim says, pointing at him emphatically. “And I don’t need to hear it from you. You’re not even wearing a costume.”
“Hey!” Buck says, setting Lucas down on his feet and taking his little hand. “We’re on theme. It’s the same thing.”
“It is not,” Maddie interjects, but she isn’t even looking at Buck, too busy crouching down and opening her arms to Lucas, who throws himself at her with abandon.
“You’re a kitty,” he giggles, like it’s the funniest thing he’s ever seen in his life as he reaches up to softly touch Maddie’s cat ears.
She wrinkles her painted nose at him and says, “Meow,” and it sets Lucas off so thoroughly that his cheeks turn bright pink and Buck ends up picking him up again anyway as he laughs so hard that his duck hood slips off of his head, exposing his wild curls.
“Can we start walking now?” Jee-Yun asks eagerly, looking between her parents. “You said we had to wait for Uncle Buck and Uncle Eddie to get here.”
Eddie stands from where he’s crouching, sharing a look with Buck as he rearranges Lucas’ hood.
“I think we’re ready, sweetheart,” Maddie says patiently. “Hold your brother’s hand, okay?”
Jee nods and reaches out— in true big sister fashion, she doesn’t wait for Jae to be in on it, instead grabbing him by the wrist and forcing her own hand into his, pulling him into step with her as Maddie shakes her head. Jae doesn’t seem to mind, though— he swings his candy bucket happily as he matches his sister step for step.
“Candy!” Lucas shrieks, and Buck laughs, leaning in to kiss his cheek.
It’s the first time Lucas has really been old enough to enjoy Halloween properly. It’s also the first year he’d chosen his costume independently, and honestly Eddie can’t think of a single thing better than what he’d wanted to be.
As they move from house to house, meandering along the street and admiring all the decorations as the light of day fades to dusk, Buck and Eddie trade off carrying Lucas and then putting him down so that he can go up to various doors with his cousins. One of them is always close behind, but Lucas is fearless— more than happy to brave stairs and spooky decorations and rapping on doors in exchange for the candy and, perhaps more importantly to their little social duckling, the attention.
After the third time he shimmies his little duck feathers to the general admiration of the people who live in the house, Eddie turns to Buck with a dry look. “At least I know you’ll never be able to deny him,” he remarks.
Buck beams, turning to look as Lucas runs down the sidewalk back to them. “Like I would ever,” Buck coos, scooping him up.
Eddie smiles— couldn’t help it if he tried.
They continue on like this for a while— at some point they encounter a ghost-themed house complete with garbage-bag ghosts hanging cheerfully in the trees. Lucas, walking between his parents, tilts his head back and looks up at them.
“Is he real?” he asks.
“Hah,” Chim crows, looking back and grinning broadly around his gum. “What a fun question for you guys.”
Eddie spares him a dirty look and then wipes it off of his face in favor of a soft and sweet one as he looks back at Lucas.
“No, sweetheart,” he answers. “Ghosts aren’t real.”
Jee turns to them, frowning. “Uncle Buck told me that—” The rest of her words are muffled under Maddie’s quick hand, and Eddie thanks whatever does or doesn’t exist for her as he glares at Buck over their son’s head.
Buck shrugs a little, and Eddie glares harder. Buck looks abashed, and Lucas stops walking between them. When they both look down, he’s studying them, blue eyes wide.
“Are they?” he asks.
“No,” Buck and Eddie reply as one.
Chim pops him gum and gestures to them with his phone, which is in his hand. “Video proof,” he says, and then ducks ahead and scoops Jae up into his arms before Buck in particular has a chance to respond.
Luckily, Lucas forgets all about it as they wander closer to their last house of the night.
He lights up at the sight of the house from the end of the driveway, tugging at Buck’s and Eddie’s hands as he realizes where they are. Jee and Jae are having similarly excited reactions, but Jee pauses long enough to reach out sweetly and take Lucas by the hand as the kids all race up the familiar driveway and along the path.
They don’t quite make it to the door before it opens.
“Grandpa!” Lucas squeals, loud enough that Buck and Eddie can both hear it from where they’re trailing behind at a leisurely pace alongside Chim and Maddie.
Bobby bends down and opens his arms big and wide, and Lucas lets go of Jee-Yun to throw himself into his arms with nothing but trust. Bobby smiles— the kind that takes up his whole entire face— and lifts a giggling Lucas cleanly off of his feet.
Lucas had started calling Bobby Grandpa all on his own— he doesn’t have any other grandparents, so their best guess is that it’s something he’d picked up from being around his cousins and the Lees, and then applied to his own life in the simplistic, easy way that only a toddler can.
The first time, it had happened right here in Bobby’s driveway— Buck and Eddie dropping Lucas off with Bobby and Athena when their usual arrangement had fallen through because Jee-Yun had a doctor’s appointment and Maddie couldn’t pick Lucas up.
Lucas had looked up at the sound of Bobby’s voice and unmistakably shrieked Grandpa! Much like he is doing now. Buck had tensed so thoroughly at Eddie’s side that he’d felt it where their shoulders brushed— but before he could say anything at all, Bobby had lit up and held his arms open to Lucas and said,
“That’s right, kiddo!”
And that had been that. Athena had been not far behind, a natural conclusion.
Now, Buck and Eddie follow the kids into the house as Bobby sets Lucas down on his feet and gives him a little push in Athena’s direction. Buck glimpses her face just in time to catch her reaction to his duck costume and grins at the way she melts— Lucas may be only three, but everyone knows he’s secured a soft spot with her for life.
“Oh, look at you,” she coos, opening her arms to him as he giggles.
“Quack quack!” Lucas cries. It’s a repeat trick that he’s been doing all night to great success, but there’s no audience as rapt as Bobby and Athena, who both laugh earnestly as Lucas smiles between them, looking altogether pleased and scarily like Buck.
Bobby reaches out and takes Jee and Jae each by one hand, spinning them in two giggling circles.
“What about you two princesses?” he asks them, glowing as they laugh. “How was the candy haul?”
“We got so much,” Jee divulges.
“Too much, some might say,” Chimney adds as he and Maddie shut the door behind them, enclosing them all in the warmth of the house. There are pumpkins out on the porch and artful autumn garlands inside, and the house is fragrant with the unmistakable aromatic touch of cornbread and chili.
“Never too much on Halloween, right guys?” Bobby says, delighted when Jee-Yun, Jae, and Lucas all cheer. “That’s what I thought,” he laughs.
“But,” Athena says, raising her voice to be heard and quieting them all instantly. “Dinner first, okay? Go and wash your hands.”
They all rush off, looking like Lucas isn’t the only duckling, as the adults file into the kitchen and dissolve into the usual chatter. Buck steps away to help Bobby serve dinner like he already knows he belongs there, and Maddie tries to offer Athena help with the table only to be waved off.
Eddie hovers in the doorway, watching, until Lucas rushes back in and reaches for him. He scoops him up into his arms and pushes his hood back off of his curls, taking in his pink cheeks and bright eyes.
“Hi, duckie,” he says sweetly, just to see Lucas giggle again. “Are you hungry?”
Lucas nods enthusiastically, and then Buck appears next to them— his hand gravitates to Eddie’s lower back, warm and familiar, but his eyes are all for their baby as he holds his hands out expectantly.
“Where do you want to sit, baby duck?” he asks.
“Grandpa!” Lucas cheers, and moments later he’s in Bobby’s lap halfway through a cornbread muffin while his parents settle in to eat.
Later, he’ll be sugar crashing and fussy over having to remove his costume, and they’ll be going home with way more candy than they’ll ever be able to get through. But for now, Eddie sinks into a chair and takes a slow, deep breath.
There is no prayer before this meal. But Eddie looks across the spread of food complete with jack-o-lantern centerpiece and catches Bobby’s eye for a moment, then squeezes Buck’s thigh under the table, then smiles at his baby— and feels the blessing of it, anyway.