42. Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Seven

C annon slipped on his costume and hopped in the side-by-side and headed to pick up his family. After he picked up his family, they were all meeting at the orchard for Bluff Creek's Halloween trick-or-treating and party. They'd wanted something safe and fun for their kids and invited all the Nelsons too. Peck, Burt, and Bill had even said they'd run a couple of the games.

He walked in the house, and Hank ran into the room, growling. Hank had wanted to be a tiger for Halloween, so Jesse had done theme outfits for all of them. Cannon had on a circus lion tamer outfit. Since Hank wanted the girls to be lions too, Jesse had asked Sarah to sew little lion manes for them. Cannon picked Hank up and hugged him.

"Where's Mommy?"

Hank growled again but pointed toward the girls' room. He paused in the doorway. The girls were already buckled into their car seats. He'd ordered extra bases to install in the side-by-side and not have to keep unhooking them. Jesse turned around and smiled at him. How the hell was he supposed to keep his dick soft tonight when his wife was dressed in a clingy leotard with a short black jacket identical to his?

"C'mon circus people. We can't be late." He handed Hank to Jesse, brushing a kiss against her cheek before picking up both the girls in their car seats. "Let's go trick-or-treating."

In no time, they were buckled in and rolling across the compound. They pulled up just as Scoop and Sarah did. Sarah and Scoop had plain white T-shirts over jeans. He wasn't sure what they were. They all headed into Roam and Sprite's because those without kids were helping. War and Remi walked in with jeans and red T-shirts on. At least, everybody could tell what his family was.

Bear and Winnie came in with their kids, followed by Clara. Then Beth walked in. She had on an Incredibles leotard with a short black wig on. Roam and Sprite's kids were in all sorts of costumes—a dinosaur, a princess, a lion, a butterfly, and a ghost. Once everyone was there, Sarah looked at Remi and nodded. Remi, War, Scoop, and Sarah pulled their T-shirts off. Scoop had a bag of ice on his black shirt, Sarah had a bag of ice on her black shirt and little footprints low on her belly. Funnily enough, War had the same on a blue shirt, and Remi's shirt was identical to Sarah's. Call him stupid but for the life of him, he could not figure out why War and Scoop had bags of ice on their shirts.

"Oh my gosh, are you both pregnant?" Beth asked.

"Why would you ask that?" Roam asked.

"Duh, their costumes. Ice, Ice, Baby?"

Now it made sense. He congratulated War and Scoop. He'd congratulate the women once the Franks sisters along, with Clara and Sprite, quit screaming and yelling.

"Okay, we can continue celebrating later. Let's head over. I'll be taking bets along the way to see who figures out our costumes first," War said.

"I'll take that bet. Ten bucks says it's Regina, Stella, or Meg." Cannon said.

Jesse rolled her eyes at him and started pushing them out the door.

"Let's go people. We've got trick-or-treating to do," Jesse yelled.

Cannon chuckled and grabbed the girls and carried them out. He had a large wagon he'd borrowed from Bear for tonight. Plenty of room for the girls and even room for Hank if he got tired.

Jesse smiled at the absolute joy on Hank's face. She was making sure to take lots of pictures because she was positive they'd never have any of him before he came to live with them. Cannon won the bet because Regina saw the costumes, screamed, and ran to Remi and War to start jumping up and down. She hadn't even noticed that Scoop and Sarah had it on too. Stella had and ran screaming to Scoop and Sarah.

It was good to see the joy on everyone's faces tonight. Since the Nelsons had closed the bar tonight, Ry had brought her twins, Wyatt and Freya. They were Ezra's age, so Ry was with Whiskey and Vivi so the kids could hang out together. Freya was the character from Brave and Wyatt was Captain America. Ezra was dressed up as Iron Man. All the costumes were so cute, but Jesse was just thrilled everyone was in such a good mood.

Seeing Cannon smiling and joking with everyone was a gift she would never tire of seeing. She glanced over at Beth. Beth hadn't seemed broken up about Kerwin. She'd seemed more mad about the fact that she'd fallen into his gaslighting. Jesse and her sisters had all taken different courses on dealing with people with emotional, sexual, and physical abuse, but it just goes to show that even the strongest person can miss the signs in their own life. Especially when it's done so slowly and deliberately.

Jesse looked to see if she could see Ellie. She and Cannon had talked about walking around with Ellie and the boys to help out. Both Lyle and Richy seemed to behave better when they were helping the younger kids. Jesse didn't believe they were bad. They just needed to see the possibilities. She caught sight of Ellie and was a little surprised. Ellie was walking with her sons, but Hennessy was walking beside her. The way he was looking at her didn't look like just a friend helping out, but she could be wrong.

Hank wanted to go pet the animals, so she and Cannon walked toward the little farm that orchard had. Regina was standing by the animals. She had on a dress and a tiara. She'd told Jesse she was always the queen, but she was going to make sure all the guys knew it.

As they walked up, Regina was glancing around.

"Have you all seen Baron? He said he had to put his costume on, but he hasn't shown up yet."

Cannon helped Hank see the mini horse and cow while Jesse stayed by the girls.

"I haven't."

Regina's eyes widened at something behind Jesse, and she turned to look. She chuckled and then laughed which caught Cannon's attention. He started laughing too. Baron, dressed as Shrek and walking a donkey on a leash, stepped up to Regina.

"Queen Regina, may I present your newest addition to your farm, your donkey Sourdough."

Jesse grinned and realized she'd always wanted a love like her mom and dad's or Regina and Baron's. Now she had it and little ones that made her life fuller than ever. It might sound sappy, but she wanted to stay in this moment forever.

The End Until the Next Book.