#((beyond 'family reunion'! they've been in several rps since; and it's been wonderful to include them!))

[theheadlessgroom]

"Oh, certainly," Callahan confirmed with a smile, happy to take his nephew's wife's mind off her worries (and make no mistake, he could tell both she and Randall had their reservations about letting the little'uns run around the park). "Gotta disguise yourself in order to make sure all the goblins don't get you, y'know!"

"Goblins?" Erika echoed curiously, as her uncle grinned, "Oh, yes, goblins! Don't'cha know the reason why we dress up for Samhain?"

When she (and Lon, for that matter), shook their heads, he flashed them a grin as he leaned back, saying, "Well, so they say, at that time of year, the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead are the thinnest-which means all sorts of things from that other world are running amok in ours, so we have our ways to ward the bad ones off, and one of those ways is to put on a costume. That way, the goblins and other little critters think you're one of them, and they won't bother you!"

"Our pa used to take special measures to make sure the fae and all their friends didn't come a-callin'," Colin added to the others, saying, "He used to douse the livestock with holy water to keep them safe, and he used to put salt on the windowsills and under the doors, to keep them from coming in. Why, all three of us boys use to have iron horseshoes we kept in our rooms, just in case one managed to get in!"

"Did one ever get in?" Lon asked, spellbound, at which Colin laughed, "Well...we thought one did. The night before Halloween, we were all asleep, and all of a sudden, we hear the window open...we're all wide awake now, but trying to pretend we're asleep, and in the dark, we can see a shape crawl through the window, and start creeping around the room...so we all chucked our horseshoes at it!"

"What was it?" Erika asked, as Callahan groaned, "Awww, it was only Oisin, that little gobshite from down the road...he used to like to steal stuff from our farm, and decided he'd give us a right scare a day early..."

It was then that he realized he'd sworn in front of his niece and nephew, cheeks lighting up at this, before quickly saying with an awkward laugh, "Er...don't go around talkin' like that, alright?"

@beatingheart-bride

Erika brightened a little at the mention of their birthday dinner: As much as she loved running around the ballroom in her new costume, enjoying the music and dancing of the costumed revelry, she also loved their little private corner, where it could just be the whole family watching as she and Lon dug into their presents and blew out their candles. It was also exciting because the cooks made the twins anything they wanted (and oftentimes, what one wanted wasn't what the other wanted), as well as any sweet, fizzy drink they wanted with dinner and dessert-it did wonders to make both feel very special on their birthday.

And as nervous as she could so often be, she also nodded along with her brother's assessment of trick 'r treating this year, both of them thrilled at the prospect of getting out of the house for a change, even as their parents exchanged unsure looks at the idea-with all the excitement of the company and everything going on with them, they hadn't had a chance to discuss this wish of their children...

"We'll, uh...we'll talk about it, like we said, Lon," Randall finally decided to answer, even as his son pouted at the idea, folding his arms with a tiny huff. Smiling at this, Randall reached down and ruffled his boy's black locks, assuring him, "I promise-tonight, your ma and I will talk about it this evening, and we'll give you our answer at dinner. How about that?"

"Okay!" he brightened at this, he and Erika bouncing up and down in their spots on the floor, while Randall himself flashed a little smile to Emily-that conversation was going to have to happen, at one point or another...